The Immortal Child
by SeeMyEvil
Summary: In medieval London Bella Swan is captured by Henry, a centuries old vampire. He changes her at the young age of 15 and they travel England, befriending more vampires along the way. What happens when the Volturi arrive looking for immortal children? AU
1. Human Dream

**Human Dream**

I woke up laughing, an uncommon phenomenon within the Swan household. Mother always woke screaming and father slept like the dead; he's only stirred by the morning church bells. In my dream, I walked across a muddy field outside of London and watched as a fox was chased by a strange creature with pale skin and a harsh growl. The creature appeared to be human, though it drained the fox of its very life in the flap of a hummingbird's wings. The creature turned to me with a wide smile on its face, its crimson eyes bright with hunger. I turned to run, but am killed before I can step into the surrounding forest. The dream was so absurd, I woke up laughing.

There was this terrifying feeling lingering at the back of my mind which wouldn't go away. No matter how many times I thought of daisy chains and mother's freshly baked bread in an attempt to calm myself, it was still there—the terror. The memory of its crimson eyes stayed behind my eyes, and was as clear as day each time I blinked.

I felt like a sword was being hung over my head—as if the executioner were standing right behind me. _A nervous reaction_, I told myself as I walked down the street to the well with a bucket to fill.

People crowded the street as I walked, I saw Mr. Smith whistling ahead of me. He had gentle blue eyes and was the nicest person you could ever meet, when he left the house of course. Mr. Smith's favourite thing to do was sit on the floor in his house and stare at the ceiling—be it summer _or _winter. No-one ever questioned him on his silent musings and I felt no motivation to either.

It came as no surprise when I tripped over my dress and fell to the floor. Hearing me fall, Mr. Smith turned, his wrinkled face concerned, and helped me to my feet. I could feel the gravel from the street in my skin and it hurt, _a lot_.

"Are you alright Isabella?" he asked quietly while examining my now bleeding hands. "You should get this taken care of."

I nodded in agreement. I withdrew from his grip, telling him I appreciated his concern, and that I would get my father to bandage my hands. I rubbed them against my olive-green dress and winced as the blood ran onto the coarse fabric; small rocks fell to the floor. I raised my skirt slightly and ran quickly away from his prying eyes. The bucket's handle chafed against the tender skin as I came to the well.

The feel of the executioner's sword above my head returned; the hair at the back of my neck raised, and I turned quickly glancing towards the side streets. A flash of bright white caught my eye; it disappeared just as quickly as it had come. I breathed in deeply and turned back to the well, tying my bucket to the rope and hoisting it downwards into the darkness.

"You're mad, woman. They'll send you to Bedlam soon enough," I murmured to no-one. What on earth moves that fast? I wondered while I carried on easing my bucket downwards in the well. I tried not to concentrate on the sharp pain as I felt gravel press deeper into my skin. I tried to ignore the sword dangling above my head, and how every limb in my body screamed at me to run and hide. What's the worst that could happen? The creature from my dream might appear. I scoffed as I thought about its frightening red eyes and the fox it had abruptly destroyed.

"Isabella," a whisper as silent as the breeze reached my ears. My head snapped up in horror. The street was empty in front of me and I turned to see what might stand behind me. Nothing. My bloody hand unconsciously clutched at the wooden pendant around my neck. My mind turned back to the ropes and the well, eventually my hands followed suit.

"Come on, don't be like that," the voice said, loudly as if it were being whispered in my ear. My breath caught in my throat and I turned to my right where the creature from my dream stood arrogantly. His hair was dark and the pallor of his skin disconcerted me, but his eyes were…indescribable. They were red and bright and yet, so kind despite all the natural assumptions that this man was in some way associated with the Devil. Suddenly, he stood just a hair's breadth away and I let out a small choke of air, frozen to my spot in the street. Now the sword was lifted and I suspected I would follow the same fate as the fox—dream or not. He took me into his arms roughly, and darted back into the alley where he was standing just half a second ago. We seemed to fly over the town wall and into the surrounding forests. I closed my eyes to see my parents' faces one last time before this strange man killed me. I could not bring myself to scream because I was too buckled down with fear; somehow, I knew that there would be no aid to my unlikely situation.

His steady breathing echoed in my ears while we flew. I imagined the thick trees surrounding us and the birds that took flight as the stranger took me through the dark undergrowth. He stopped; the wind that was brushing my hair over my head in disarray disappeared. But now my fear heightened, this would be the end, I was sure of it. The man lowered me to the grassy forest floor and my dress fell back into place. My hands stung as they flailed in the dusty air while I tried to catch my balance. Slowly I opened my eyes and saw what I had imagined in my dream, but there was no fox carcass lying anywhere.

The trees I'd seen were in an identical formation, an assortment of elm and birch trees seemed to lie so that a small meadow could lead the odd bit of sunlight to the forest floor. Oak trees were the main body of the thick canopy though. Their wide branches stretching out around and above, reaching for the skies—I might be doing something like that _very _soon. I heard the man clear his throat behind me as I examined my surroundings.

"I am Henry," the man said as he came to take my sore hand. His beauty dazed me at first, before I thought of what he might have done to the fox last night—everything was in perfect clarity.

"I've seen you before," I blurted out, my voice was surprisingly strong. I guessed it was probably because I already accepted my fate—death. "You killed a fox, and then you killed me."

The man stared into my nervous eyes, scrutinizing me and almost certainly questioning my sanity. "I didn't kill you," His tone was matter of fact as he told me this.

_Yet_, I finished mentally. A flicker of a smile pulled his lips upwards in amusement. Or even, fascination?

"But I did kill a fox, many in fact, but how would you know? How can you have seen me?" he remembered with a puzzled expression, his freezing fingers trailed up my thin arm and stopped short of my collar. The rest of his body followed soon afterwards and his mouth was inches away from my neck. Again, every nerve told me to run or fight or do _something_, not let him kill me. But I was resigned—prepared to die at age fifteen. I wasn't prepared to answer his question though, because I didn't know how I _had_ known. In truth, it was just a stupid dream after all, wasn't it?

"Just kill me," I responded shortly. My eyes shuttered closed and with that he pressed his lips to my neck while his hands wrapped around my shoulders, restraining me. I scoffed, as if I was going to fight _back_.

"Actually, I planned to make you one of my own," he said as coldly as his cold breath that fanned over my skin, and I couldn't help but hear the unadulterated threat lacing his silken voice. I just had no idea what that meant. I never had time to figure it out before his lips pressed against my throat once more and I felt a numbness flood my mind. This was slowly followed by a searing pain and heat. I felt like I was roasting over an open fire. I screamed. The terrible pain scorched every flake of skin, my heart raced and blood pulsed in my ears. Henry pressed his lips to my neck once more and then slowly lowered me to the ground before I could collapse. How would I endure this? I thought of the Lord's Prayer and wondered why I was damned to hell, was this punishment for a white lie that I told?

_Pater noster, qui es in caelis:_

_sanctificetur Nomen Tuum;_

_adveniat Regnum Tuum;_

_fiat voluntas Tua,_

_sicut in caelo, et in terra._

_Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;_

_et dimitte nobis debita nostra,_

_Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;_

_et ne nos inducas in tentationem;_

_sed libera nos a Malo._

But the fire raged on; maybe God willed it, or perhaps he just wasn't listening.


	2. You'll be a Vampire

**You'll be a Vampire**

The fire still burned. After the trees were shaken by the wind over one hundred times and as day turned to night, all I could do was wish for death. Or if I couldn't die, then perhaps the pain might leave or perhaps I could live in fear for the rest of my time. I would take what I could get. Henry attempted to soothe me when tears sprung from my eyes, _slightly_ cooling the burning in my face. Shushes and cold hands were supposed to fix this?! I hated this man for what he'd done to me.

The sky filled with stars and I looked to find the Belt or The Plough, anything to draw my attention from the fire. Only then could I hear my name being called through the trees.

I recognised my mother's voice, and screamed out to her, but Henry clapped his hand over my mouth, and put a finger to his lips, signalling for silence.

"ISABELLA!" mother cried out despairingly after hearing my strangled cry. There was a faint rustling in the background a little ways away; Henry crouched on the ground beside me. "Come on baby, where are you?" I wished I could answer her, but the hand on my mouth was strong. Soon after the rustling disappeared, my pain heightened; it had been pacified by my mother's proximity, but returned with vengeance.

"You mustn't scream," Henry told me calmly. My sight was blurred by unshed tears, but I nodded slowly, painfully. His hand slid away from my mouth. "Good girl."

Resentfully, I turned my burning body away from my torturer.

"Isabella would you like to know what's happening to you?" he asked sincerely. I did not answer, because I knew I would scream, and I wouldn't give him that satisfaction. So I scowled at a tree that stood a few feet away.

"Well, I'll tell you anyway. You're becoming a vampire," he paused, expecting some kind of violent reaction. But I lay there, thinking about all the possibilities for that tree – a chair, table or a bookcase… "Stop that now, I don't like being ignored." He pulled me round to face him, grabbing onto my hipbone aggressively. I cried out in pain. Henry was horrified: "I'm so sorry." _Sorry _won't cut it. I spoke out a long stream of profanities, and spat in the monster's face which he didn't take too kindly. He slapped me hard across the face; it was a welcome distraction.

Henry continued on with his lecture, wiping my spit off of his perfect face. "You won't die no matter how many times you wish for it." He stared off into space, ignoring my contorted face. "I suppose, that's what we are really… dead. We don't need air, but we crave it. We have no heartbeat, but we move as freely as a bird. There is no blood running through our veins, yet we drink it like a human needs water," he sighed and looked down to my face again. "What strange things we are…" I turned away swiftly; I wallowed in my own never-ending, excruciating pain. "I suppose you think I'm some kind of demon summoned from hell to destroy you," he chuckled. I made no comment mentally or physically. "Why won't you speak?" His hand fluttered underneath my chin and turned it his way again, so that I may see his terrifying eyes again. They were still filled with pain and loneliness. He smiled in spite of himself.

The sun returned after many hours. Dawn broke on the eastern horizon, and I was bathed in morning sunlight; Henry shone brilliantly. I wanted to reach out and see if I could claw the diamonds from the surface of his skin, but my body was paralyzed by the fires coursing through my body. I felt as though I should be black like charcoal, but my skin remained intact, still slightly tanned from summer. Henry began to speak again, "Vampirism won't change who you are. You will still be Isabella, and that will never change. It's just that you will be more durable; you'll be stronger and faster and beautiful. Far more beautiful than when you were human. You won't be able to step into sunlight." His crimson eyes were dull as they watched my face with interest. "And you will drink blood." I blanched at the idea. "You find the idea disgusting now, but once the transformation is over the scent of it will send you into a frenzy; I'm certain of it." I turned my face away from his and curled into a ball; the rough material of my dress was covered in grass stains and smelt of wood – I buried my face in it. "There are definitely a few drawbacks to it, for one you'll have to kill people."

"No I will NOT! I _WILL NOT KILL PEOPLE_!" I screamed then, turning around. I was only then to be confronted with more of the terrible pain. My throat was becoming hoarse as Henry covered my mouth with his hand.

"We'll see," the vampire said quietly.

Darkness fell for the second time; still the fire burned. After a while I stopped crying, seeing that it was utterly pointless; it wouldn't _fix _anything. While I lay here, Henry carefully stroked calming circles at the underside of my foot. I took this as an opportunity to study him properly, he sat with crossed legs and his clothes were loose over his thin body. His raven-coloured hair was in wild disarray atop his head; his nose was broad and with a straight edge. His mouth remained in a hard line. He was biting his lip and I could see the muscles straining in his neck, what he was refraining from eluded me. He was a killer, but I could see in his dark eyes so much regret as they followed the path of his cold thumb. I silently wondered if he wished he hadn't bitten me, had left me to live my human life—to marry and do whatever I would do as a woman in England.

"I remember my change," he said. "The most terrible three days of my life. I honestly don't know what triggered it," he said wistfully, Henry's eyes were very far away as he thought back to…when? I didn't know. "Obviously I was bitten by something." His thumb continued its path over the base of my foot, slower now and with more fervour. I couldn't understand his expression. The pain in my bones was intense and it seemed impossible to think about anything else, I just wanted to die. _Make the pain stop_, I pleaded to the heavens. "I'm so sorry," he said, brushing his hands over my calves and easing the tension there minimally. My eyes moved to watch the stars; the moon lay far away in the skies and darkened everything in its absence.

My heart was speeding in my chest, and my breaths came in short gasps; I tried not to think of this. I was good at repressing unpleasant things…so I closed my eyes. I wouldn't fall asleep—I knew that such relief would be ludicrous, but when I closed my eyes I could remember my mother. I remembered her brown hair falling to her waist in a plait and her gentle smile when I woke her from her night terrors. These thoughts calmed my mind, but not the fires. Endless burning!

"I was born a very long time ago Isabella. Before all of London was built, before any relative of yours existed. I cannot die and I have yearned to for the past six hundred years. I am lonely. Can you imagine watching everyone you ever knew pass into the next world? While you are forever twenty years old, can you imagine that? Bound closer to Death than death itself; living in between worlds," Henry's voice was devoid of emotion, despite the power of his words. "To be a ghost amongst humanity, and destroy it." My pain escalated. It surged through my body with more vigour than before. I couldn't imagine it, but I knew I would have to. That would be my life.

My heart beat frantically as my fingers were freed from the fire. Henry continued to speak throughout the night, but I had little patience for his pessimistic musings. Just as I was about to live with death for the next few thousand years, I didn't need to hear of the many people I would kill. One for every minute of my mortal life would die. _Urgh! I hate this!_ Every part of my body was cringing from the sudden freezing feeling surrounding, me and my eyes wrenched open to a stunning bright sky.

"It is almost done," Henry murmured. The sunlight that managed to reach our forest floor gave him a peculiar halo of dark light. I might have laughed had I not been in immense pain. My mouth remained closed. "The pain will end soon." Henry gave me a small smile as he said this; the regret was still in his eyes. I could see it as clear as day, as clear as the sunlight that falls on London.

Now the fires focused solely on my heart; intense heat under ice that couldn't melt. My heartbeats became hard and fast, my head throbbed with the terrific racket it was making. My heart slowed and gave one more hollow thump before ceasing completely. My back arched, like my soul was being turned over to God, for him to do as he pleased. I sighed at the relief from my pain and embraced the new smells I could make out; the grass that had smelt so musty before now held so many different flavours.

"Isabella," Henry said happily. I opened my eyes to a different world. I watched pollen floating in the air swiftly change direction as I breathed in and out, revelling in the feeling of life. I've never felt so _alive_. I wanted to tell my mother about this amazing new cure to her lethargy, but I couldn't. I knew that. I remembered all Henry had told me, _no need for the air, but we crave it_. _No heartbeat in our chests, but we move as freely as a bird_._ There is no blood running through our veins, yet we drink it like a human needs water_. On that last sentence my throat burned like the inferno I was immersed in just moments ago. Intense heat and need for blood; I couldn't understand it. A bird cried out overhead and I rose to my feet, brushing Henry away from me.

I felt the sun on my face as it glared into my sensitive eyes, and stepped into a patch of shade, more or less as soon as I'd thought it. I inhaled the heavily scented air as I moved; the smell of something heavenly was all over the forest as well as the scent of lavender and mint. The meadow was in much more detail now as I struggled to compare it with the one I'd seen before, but my memories were unclear; like trying to see through mud.

In this new meadow, tiny creatures climbed up and down the tree holding pieces of leaf in their mouths. A thrumming in the branches above my head irritated me; when I looked up, I could see it was a bird. The sound of Henry's breath interrupted my observations; I could hear the grass under his feet rustle as he stepped towards me. He placed a light hand on my shoulder, and I moved backwards away from his hands; this was the man that had destroyed me.

"Isabella," he began. "I know it's very disorientating right now." One side of his mouth turn upwards in a grim smile. "But I need you to listen to me…" His voice faded into the background as the wind carried to me the most delightful scent. The fire ignited in my throat once more and I knew I had a hunt on my hands; I needed it, the blood.

**A/N: Thank you very much for reviewing, my faithful readers. :D How about a repeat? I hope you guys can recognize this as "An Immortal Child" which I deleted, because that's what it is really, but obviously, it has evolved a lot. **


	3. First Kill

**First Kill**

My senses were completely focused on the beautiful scent, there was no room to watch the sunlight affecting the shimmering grass, or count the leaves on the nearest oak tree. There was only blood lust. It was ferocious, terrifying even, I couldn't comprehend it. My feet pushed against the wind that brought the magnificent aroma that called to me, driving my blood lust; I had to have the blood. I weaved in and out of the trees in the forest, hearing Henry's quick pursuit; but I was faster. I ran franticly in deadly pursuit, surprised that the trees didn't blur with my speed, but instead were in perfect clarity.

"Isabella!" Henry called from far behind me, beseeching for a lapse in my pace. "STOP!" He continued to shout at me, but I wasn't in control of my body; the Isabella I knew was pushed aside by an animal—aggressive and fierce, strong and frightening. I was weak in comparison, and I did not recognise myself. Now I was the creature from my dream. Now I was ugly.

I remembered my mother telling me something…

"_You're beautiful_," she said. I could hear it ringing through my head, and the animal shrank from it. It covered its sensitive ears, finding the strength to crush that small shred of humanity under its leaden foot. Thus the creature won me completely, for my new body to do its bidding.

I couldn't hide what I became; not as I climbed over the town wall and not as I was shining in the sunlight, as though precious stones were embedded into my skin. Here the terrific scent was everywhere; rose petals and daisies lingered in the air, even more was the smell of wheat and grass. I could choose from any one of these delicious scents, but I followed the one that led to a deserted street. A small house with two people inside; I heard their harmonic heartbeats.

I watched the couple in the window; they were spooned against each other sweetly. There was a small bed in the background, and a small unlit fireplace; the house was dark. _Perfect_, the creature whispered. Laughter and happiness, "Stop it John!" the woman said as she giggled. Her husband ticked her sides playfully, "Stoh-op!" There was more laughter, joined by the chortling of her husband. He had blonde hair and was quite handsome with his chin coming to a soft point.

"You're paying for your rotten teasing," he chuckled. I inhaled slowly and went to move inside, shoving through the heavy, wooden door with ease. The laughter stopped, their eyes growing wide. Their luscious scent saturated the room, fuelling the fire already burning in my throat; the couple straightened up, squaring their shoulders defensively.

"What are you doing?" the man asked quickly. "I suggest you leave before I call for someone." His voice was filled with anger, but didn't touch me in the way it should have; it should have made me shrink back into the corner and leave, but I stood tall against his threats—the creature did anyway; I was stowed away in the back of my mind, able to see everything, but unable to do anything.

"How dare you speak to a lady in that manner?" I replied coolly. His brow furrowed and I took my chance, leaping forth and knocking the two of them to the floor. The woman's face was the picture of shock while the man's was fearful as he desperately reached to keep his wife close. The scorching in my throat was unbearable; so close to my intended prey, my lips instinctively sought the man's neck. I could see the blood pulsing underneath his skin, my mouth flooded with a strange substance that was similar to saliva but much more liquid. Whatever it was, I didn't care; this was my kill.

My teeth sunk into his neck, and I drank in the sweet nectar that weakened the burn in my throat. The blood tasted nothing like water; it satiated my half dead body, providing vitality in a way that water couldn't. The man tried in vain to get away, but my hands grabbed his shoulders forcing him to be still. The woman wedged underneath me shrieked at the sight of her husband's death. I truly hated myself in that moment, but my God! I honestly couldn't stop, and that pained me more than anything. I was taught that killing was the worst thing someone could _ever_ do, but here I was killing for my own disgusting means. I was going to Hell.

"Oh _no_!" A familiar voice said dejectedly. "Not like this, Isabella! Have some humanity, kill them first," Henry admonished, this was one more thing to disgust me. _Have some humanity_? _Kill them first_? To kill is to make yourself inhumane. I don't believe it's possible to have some _humanity_ in this situation! Perhaps I was wrong; perhaps Henry _was_ the Devil's son, or his brother at the very least. He walked forwards until he was too close for comfort, towering over me while I sat in his shadow. A threatening growl stirred in my chest, warning off my rival, but he stood his ground unflinching. I continued to drink from the man who no longer tried to fight me off. His heart stopped, I took all I could from him. I pulled away, and began to drink from the woman's throat hearing a satisfying crunch as my teeth sunk into her flesh. I was almost totally unaware of Henry lifting the man from the floor and throwing him over his shoulder effortlessly; my victim now an ugly shade of grey. I briefly wondered where he might be going before the creature tugged on my mental shoulder, telling me to watch what I was doing, and not waste time on _inconsequential trivia_.

I swiftly moved my eyes back to the woman in my arms; she was plain with blonde hair and pale skin. I cared for nothing but her blood, and in a few short moments her veins were dry. I had taken everything from her, and my throat still burned ferociously. I cried out in frustration, curling up on the floor in a ball. I covered my face with my arms and buried my nose in the fabric of my dress. When would I be satisfied? I had already broken the most important rule in all of time _twice_. Innocent people—killed! I was completely disgusted; I would never forgive myself. I wanted my mother to tell me everything was alright, that it was a bad dream. I wanted that more than anything. I wanted to smell the soap on her clothes again. I wanted to be as small as I could so that I might disappear.

I wanted to rip out my throat and be done with it, but killing myself would be the coward's way out.

My father had taught me better. I was no coward, I would stick this out. I had to face what I had become, and there was nothing I could do about it. I had just savagely killed two innocent people without a second thought.

Where had I found the strength to hold down a grown man? While restraining his wife at the same time? No. Stop side-stepping the big question Isabella, what had happened to my mind? In my suddenly expansive mind, blood was the most prominent thought. Questions of my identity, the off-hand musings of my senses and the wondering about Henry's whereabouts—all of this was going through my head at the same time, much, much too fast. I couldn't deal with it, and let out another frustrated snarl, pressing my head deeper into the folds of my dress.

I don't know how long I sat on the stone floor of my victim's home, wondering about all these things. I realised it was sunset when I heard footsteps approaching the broken door. Whoever it was let out a gasp and stepped inside, their jaw clicked as they shut it. This person lingered in the doorway for a moment longer. "Are you well, miss?" a woman's voice called to me, it echoed off the stone walls of the house shrilly.

I took in a breath and I wrote off her life. My head whipped around towards the door and I took in the sight before me; a girl of about twenty years stood with her eyes carefully examining the scene with a confused expression on her plain face. The only visible suggestion of foul play to her was the broken door.

"No, can you help me please?" I asked quietly, luring her inside so I could take her blood and douse the fire in my throat. The creature smiled slyly at the girl. She came to me quickly, placing a hand on my shoulder. She couldn't see the body of the blonde woman lying in front of me in this darkness. I lifted my other hand and pulled her wrist to my mouth. She fell forwards. A crack was heard as her bone snapped and I drank from her, the creature was gleeful at such bloodshed. Three in a day. Soon she would die, I tried to muffle her screams with my other hand but she was loud and…dead now.

I released her wrist and wiped my mouth, her unseeing eyes stared forward in her grey face. I guessed she was in heaven, where all good and innocent people go; like I should have gone. The creature reminded me that my throat was much less painful, but that I would have to find more people if I were to control myself ever again. I took in a breath, attempting to push aside the chattering of my own personal devil. I never wanted this for myself; I had been pushed into it by a selfish bastard that goes by the name of Henry.

"Isabella?" He whispered.

**A/N: Good? Bad? Too violent? Too emotional? Please review!**


	4. Confronting thy Creator

**Confronting thy Creator**

"Isabella, are you well?" he asked, repeating my name in an attempt to gain my attention. I turned slowly away from the eyes of my unwitting victim and found a pair of crimson eyes filled with worry. His expression quickly became one of relief as he looked me over, seeing nothing amiss he came to sit beside me. "Isabella?"

"Yes?" I said to the roof. I vaguely noticed Henry closing the woman's eyes and waiting for me say something more, but I was so angry I feared I may rip apart this man who brought about my demise. I wanted to tear him limb from limb and feed him to the wolves. I hated this man, but I put on a polite smile and turned to him.

"How are you?" he questioned once more, his eyes searching mine for anything that might indicate sadness. I suppose what he found was just as bad. Emptiness. Henry took my hand in his and stroked the skin, "I'm not a mind-reader Isabella. I need you to tell me what's wrong so that I can help."

"I'm dead. That's what's wrong," I replied sharply. Henry looked hurt for a moment and his fingers stopped their ministrations. I hoped I made him feel at least one ounce of the self-loathing and disgust I felt towards myself; he clearly had no problem with this life.

"You're not dead. You're living your life differently," he told me with certainty and offered me a kind smile. "I used to think that way too, but I found that as long as I thought myself dead, I would be dead. I found myself standing in the middle of a forest, staring into the skies and willing an end to my never ending life. I was there in body—but not in spirit.

"That idea trapped me for a few thousand years. But a short time ago my perspective of the world changed. I decided that as long as I was on this earth, I must appreciate the time I have. You never know when it will be cut short."

I was winded by the truth in Henry's words; I knew that last phrase well. Had I not just been ripped from my life? Yes. I had, and it had been his fault. I took a deep breath and restrained myself, putting my hands in my lap. I needed to accept _this_ existence, just as I had accepted death. I would never forgive Henry, but I would move on. I hoped he could see that.

"I'd never thought of it like that," I murmured, still with clenched fists and a locked jaw.

"Older and wiser…" Henry chuckled, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Shall we dispose of these?" he said while gesturing towards the two bodies with his free hand.

Henry smiled and knelt in front of me, he placed the hand that had been on my shoulder under my chin and tilted it up towards him.

"Do you see now?" he questioned, already knowing the answer. I sighed and stood, the creature baying for more blood as I took another breath. I smelt mint and lavender on Henry, but the memory of my victims' blood still hung strong in the air. The steady burn in my throat continued its assault on me as I fought to keep myself in control of my body. It had been a long internal struggle to free myself from the creature within me, even for a few hours. I had been successful.

Henry let go of me, seeing the internal struggle in my eyes and lifted the blonde woman who lay in the shadows, he threw her over his shoulder and then picked up the girl I had most recently ravaged. "Will you carry her for me please? I can't hold two at once—and even more importantly, I shouldn't have to." Henry dropped the girl at my feet and walked through the door into the darkness of the night.

I was disgusted by his treatment of the girl. Though she was dead and _my _kill, she deserved respect. My eyes stung as I willed tears to spring from them, but none came. Why couldn't I cry?! I needed to, but I couldn't. Stamping my foot childishly, I noticed incredulously how the ground gave way underneath my foot, now a foot-sized hole was set where I stood. I was so frustrated! I never wanted this! I wanted to be with my parents, and to marry whoever they wanted for me. An arranged marriage was such a small sacrifice in comparison to this. I wanted to live my life as a _human_.

But I couldn't have that. Ever. I would never marry. I could never see my parents again, for they would shame me if they saw me. They would be able to tell what wrongs I committed the moment they looked me in the eye. They could always tell. Even if I'd done something as small as throw a stone, even if no-one was hurt, they could tell. I could only imagine the look of disgust on their faces if they saw me now.

So I was resigned, I lifted the girl in my arms and carried her to the doorway. I looked both ways before stepping into the street; it was a crescent moon tonight and provided little light. Thankfully, the torches in the town had only just been lit and gave off a small amount of light. You could only see as far as the end of your arm, and that was a strain for a human, I remembered from my own foggy memories. But as a vampire I could see all, no longer inhibited by my weak human sight.

I followed Henry's trail, all the while remembering a treasured nursery rhyme as I fought to keep my sanity. I had to keep breathing for Henry's scent, but every breath brought the glorious smells of human blood. I ran through the town so fast that anyone I passed waved me off as the breeze. I knew that if they attempted to pursue me they would meet an untimely end. Better they never knew I was even there.

Fluidly I leaped over the town wall, gradually catching up with Henry. The leaves rustled as I pushed through the thick greenery in the forest, several small animals ran from the area. Their hearts raced in what could only be described as a natural fear of the ultimate predator. I was not interested in these rodents, I shuddered at the thought. I laughed when I remembered what I was holding in my arms though. Here I was holding the dead body from which I took blood into my own body and now I was disgusted by the thought of drinking an animal's blood.

It was a testimony to how the creature poisoned my mind, making even my own sanity, insane. Already I was a shadow of my former self; the teachings of my childhood were buried deep—and never forgotten. I could remember my mother telling me how she'd seen the people of the city run from London Bridge as the houses atop it burnt and their broken wood structures were taken in by the river Thames. It was one of the most fascinating things she'd ever seen she said. I could still remember that, but that was only one thing.

"Isabella?" Henry wondered, concerned as he took in my suddenly frozen state with clear red eyes. When had he appeared? When had I stopped noticing? I was falling to pieces, though I thought I built a steady resolve. I needed to live my life as it had been given, but I could not move past what I had become as my throat burned and the weight of my victim's empty body bore down on me. I was a killer. "Stop it now." Henry was free of the other body; I guessed he had already disposed of it. He didn't like how badly I was reacting to the vampirism. But he was as sympathetic as he was empathetic, and for some twisted reason I appreciated his company in this desolate time. I appreciated it, even though he had brought it upon me. He put a cool hand on my quivering shoulder in an effort to comfort me.

I'd thought my life was decided for me until it was ripped away, and I hated it. Nothing was stable in anyone's life. I had come to realise that now.

And suddenly…I was falling down, just as the bridge had.

**A/N: Good or bad? Please review to let me know!**


	5. Acceptance

**Acceptance**

Henry's hand on my shoulder pushed me to the floor; he took the body in my hands from me and threw her aside. I wanted to lie here for a long time and wait for my time to pass. I could already imagine myself lying here completely still, ivy growing atop me, leaves falling each harvest and I sinking into the ground—deeper and deeper. I didn't think that had been his intention. He sighed exasperatedly. I wanted to get over my fear, my stupid irrational fear, but I just couldn't accept my strange and horrifying new life in the space of a few hours. It was impossible. Henry sat beside me and watched as I worked through everything I was feeling.

I was terrified. I had killed three times today. I had another thousand years to live with those deaths on my conscience and the knowledge that more would die at my hands. I only had to think of my throat and it was burning painfully. The burning was the only motivation the creature needed to dominate my consciousness.

"How long will it take for the fire in my throat to go away?" I inquired. Henry looked taken aback by my unexpected movement and his eyes widened before they became calculating. His eyebrows knit together and he took in a long breath.

"It won't ever go away. All we can do is drink blood to make it bearable," he said after a long time, his face expressionless. He was trying not to show sadness, but it was evident on his face. I felt that sadness intensified by ten. My lips turned down at my realization, I had been taken from all I knew and thrown into this mad world of vampirism. I didn't want to think of this, but if I was ever going to get over my fear and savour my life I needed to. "If you were to see me hunt, you'd get the hang of it. I know it. I was just like you once," he smiled slightly. "I got the scent and ran, just like you. Can you see it, Isabella?" he pulled my chin upwards like my father used to when he wanted me to be happy again.

"Please see it," Henry pleaded with me. "How you reacted was perfectly natural—"

"Natural?!" I interrupted, shocked by his foul claim.

"Yes, natural! You forget that you are a vampire now and that _was _perfectly natural for a vampire!" His eyes ablaze with anger, much like mine were. "Of course, the basest human teaching is not to kill, but we can't help ourselves!" Henry gestured to himself desperately trying to make me believe his own philosophy. "Vampires are _meant_ to kill! It is what we are. You have to accept that Isabella. I have tried to be gentle with you. I really have! But you won't listen."

Suddenly he lifted me to my feet and dragged me further into the forest. We were both so angry. I struggled and flailed my arms around, but his grip was strong. There was no point in fighting him. I was going wherever he was taking me, whether I liked it or not.

"Hear me when I say this Isabella. You are being a stubborn little girl and I need you to grow up. You are being excruciatingly pessimistic and I don't need your tales of woe on top of my own!" His eyes flashed in anger. All I could think of was how rude he was suddenly being. How _dare_ he treat to me like that? Was I an animal?! Especially as he was dragging me by the arm. I don't know where he worked up the nerve.

"How dare you treat me like this?! Where do you get the gall to tell me to grow up? All the while you are dragging me through hundreds of miles of forest! I am entitled to my disgust at how I've just killed three innocent people." I struggled free of his grip and stopped beside a large oak tree with fury in my eyes. Henry came to me with his hand held out in front of him, gesturing for me to take it. The same hand that just dumped a dead body at my feet. The same hand that had grabbed onto my shoulder and restrained my struggling, agonized form. I looked at his hand and grimaced. "You expect me to take your hand after everything you have done?" I asked him, disbelief colouring my face. He was angry, but so was I. I could also see the sadness lying beneath the mask of his anger.

"The best way to deal with a child is to act like one," he replied quietly with threat in his voice. "They'll listen to what you have to say because they have no choice. How can you ignore someone screaming your face?" I half expected him to chuckle with that comment, but his face held all the seriousness in the world.

"I am _not_ a child!" I cried with anger, again willing tears to come. I punched the ancient oak tree in frustration, it fell with a crash onto a pine tree which shuddered then fell into another pine. I watched with awe as they supported each other. I had destroyed two more lives with one of my own tantrums. Not out of necessity. I clearly was the child here and with that thought, I hung my head.

"Oh…but you are Isabella, and I think you realise that now." His voice was silken now; no longer filled with anger he stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder. "You've done nothing but sob and argue since your change, isn't it time you thought of the other more exciting parts of vampirism?" Henry put his hand under my chin, tilting it upwards.

Was this the same vampire that had stolen away my life? He was nowhere in this stranger's face. His nose swept downwards in a gentle slope to a soft point where his mouth stretched into a sympathetic smile. His eyes, though they were red, held nothing but good nature while studying my own bemused face with curiosity. His brow was furrowed and black as burnt wood. The same colour as his clumped hair which looked as though it hadn't been washed in many years. The vampire who had destroyed me was gone. Here was a kind and supportive Henry who only wanted to protect me. I silently wondered what caused the change in him.

"You just struck that tree with only a small amount of force, and look what has become of it. You are the strongest person in all of England. You could bring any castle to the ground with ease," Henry said this with a wide smile showing his teeth; his words excited me to no end. "You can run as fast as twenty horses. It takes mere hours to run from London to Nottingham.

"You'll never get tired, never sleep again, and think of how much time of your life you've wasted sleeping. You don't need to take toilet breaks; I know how disgusted you are by it." I gave him a small smile and stepped away from him, but still keeping our hands entwined.

"I feel like I'm being sold something at the fair!" I laughed, and Henry laughed with me, it was strange…to laugh under such disturbing circumstances. But he was my friend. I had a right to laugh, didn't I? This was what friendship was supposed to be all about: laughter and happiness and support. He was not evil, but my friend. He had not stolen my life, but given me a new lease of life. This was the optimistic way of thinking and I wanted to stay in this state of mind because where I had been before was so much darker.

"Travelling is one more thing we can do easily, provided we stay inconspicuous," he smiled wider than ever before as he said this. "We can run all over the country, the far south of England is where I intend to go next and I trust you will go with me? It is where I was brought up and I want to return." Suddenly his smile became tight.

"Why do you want to go back to your home? Where is it?" Henry's hand dropped from my chin and took my left hand tightly in his own. I waited for him to answer for what seemed like years as he worked through all the emotions on his mind: happiness, sadness, apprehension and finally determination.

"I want to see what has become of the small town Barnstaple. The last time I visited it had only one hundred inhabitants and that was about five hundred years ago." He began walking again in a south-westerly direction, my hand was in his and from what I could tell he really didn't want to let go.

We walked for three or four days. I wasn't really paying attention to time, but I did count the stars one night. There were exactly five thousand, two hundred and sixty four stars in the section I was studying. They were such beautiful and amazing things, just hanging in the sky, but never falling to earth. How much effort must it take for them to stay like that? I wished I could be as strong with my bloodlust. But with every kill I made, I thought of all the good things that would come of this life. I would never die. I would never get tired. I would never be old like my grandparents, and have creases in my skin. With those thoughts came a smile and so did Henry's unbelievably straight teeth.

We came to a stop outside of Barnstaple; through the trees I could hear the working of a town in mid-morning. The sun was high today and the smell of sweat was thick in the air surrounding the dwellings of the town's people. We were hidden from view.

"Stay here, I've got to talk to someone. Make sure you keep in the shadows," Henry told me calmly as he kissed my cheeks and breezed past me to a different part of the forest. It was strange being parted from him and I knew this was stupid because I'd barely known him a week. He was my tutor…my mentor. He kept me under control and in his absence I could feel the creature trying to spring from the recesses of my mind.

Some time later, the sun was beneath the horizon and Henry still hadn't returned. I was impatient, but also worried for him. What if savages had found him and decided to set him alight? Or he'd gotten lost in the forest? What about the new developments in swordsmanship? Had someone taken Henry by surprise and thrust a knife into his back? Of course these were all ridiculous thoughts and I knew that each of those possibilities were less likely than Grandma Swan coming back to life. I was still concerned though and I set off on his trail.

**A/N: Good? You like? Please review!**


	6. The Plague

**The Plague**

Leaves crunched under my feet as I moved through the thick forest in Henry's trail; the sweet lavender and mint smell coated the leaves where he travelled—he clearly wasn't worried about any threat to his person. But I was. Where would that leave me if he was gone? I would have no-one. I needed Henry.

After a little while I came to the edge of the woods. From my hiding place in the shadows I could see a stone house covered by ivy and I was close enough to brush my marble hand over the lush green in the darkness. As my fingers ran over the soft texture of the ivy I heard hundreds of tiny creatures scurry away from the area. I sighed and pulled my hand away as swiftly as an arrow fired from its bow.

I moved into the street where there was a long line of wooden houses. The light of the people's fiery lanterns poured into the road and their heartbeats sounded loud in my ears. Venom drew into my mouth and I swallowed it down as quickly as I noticed it; the burn in my throat was weak for now. I had quenched my unending thirst for the time being.

The first droplets of rain fell from the sky as I breathed in Henry's scent. My feet made no sound while I moved up the road towards the town centre. The chapel to the left of me had its doors left open for anyone to step inside away from the rain. But I would not go inside as comforting as it might be; I needed to see Henry to be sure of his return to me. He wouldn't leave me in the forest alone would he? After all the time he spent convincing me of my new life's gifts? No, I didn't believe he would. So I continued on his trail, my feet moving faster than humanly possible. I was certain of my privacy, until I heard the soft gasp of a young child telling its mother of the ghost in the street. She told the child to go further inside and moved to get her husband; her heartbeat was fast while I stood in a shadowed alley off the street.

The mother came out into the street as the rain began to fall harder. Her scent was strengthened by the wetness of her hair and with each breath I took my throat blazed like an open fire. She smelt of something so amazing, so delicious. I couldn't help myself. With that she was gone from this world, her neck snapped and her body limp. I took her into the alley and drank her dry then disposed of her body at the back of one family's house. I could just hear Henry's disapproving voice at my behaviour.

"You took a woman from the street when the family was already suspicious of your presence. You stupid, _stupid _girl, we'll almost definitely be found now," he would say that if he was here, but he was gone somewhere in this town and I hadn't finished tracking him. I sighed exasperatedly as the woman's husband ventured into the street; he was so confused, the look on his face was almost comical. I stepped slowly back to the mouth of the alley and again traced my friend's scent. The man didn't even see me as I rushed through the damp air to the end of the street. Now I was met with a fork in the road, to the left it was cobbled and to the right was a dirt road. The smell of mint-lavender led that way.

I felt so full of blood as I ran, it seemed as though I was sloshing with every movement of my legs, and though it wasn't pleasant it was not uncomfortable either. I took a moment to take a sweeping look at my surroundings; the road had houses piled on top of each other on both sides, the lights were dim in the windows and the grass was beaten into the ground by the rain. Henry's trail led to a house at the end of the street and through the door, but I would not intrude—it'd be rude. So I stood outside while Henry finished up whatever he was doing. I tried not to listen to what he was saying but I couldn't very well make myself deaf…

"…Ransley is fine; he is up in Scotland for now," a young woman murmured with care. At this point I noticed there were no heartbeats within the house and I was instantly intrigued by the thought of more vampires.

"Where is he in Scotland? I need to speak to him," Henry told the woman.

"Edinburgh. What's so urgent?" Her tone climbed to panic; she obviously had some connection with my creator. Perhaps she was an old friend.

"Something you don't need know about Ember, I shan't be seeing you again for a long time." There was a clatter of wood as someone's seat fell to the ground.

"Why not?" The woman almost shouted. I heard Henry take in a breath and head for the door. His footfall was heavy and sunken, the door creaked as it was opened and then the woman, Ember, ran to catch his arm.

"I'm sorry, but that is the way it is. There is nothing I can do to make it better for you." Something I noticed about Ember's eyes as she stood in the doorway was the colour of them. They were not the sickly shade of red I expected, but a very dark yellow, golden even. I wondered about it as she pulled him in to kiss. Her hands went into his hair and she wrapped another arm around his back. I was beyond shocked; this was more than a visit to Henry's hometown that was for sure. At this point, I cleared my throat and they broke apart like two harlots caught in the act. I smiled gently in amusement; I had seen this kind of affection before and it didn't faze me.

"You were gone for quite a while Henry, I thought I should make sure nothing had happened to you," I said sweetly. Ember released Henry's arm and stood to face me.

"Who's this?" she asked, watching Henry's eyes raptly. I saw however that he was not as pleased to see me as he should have been. I scoffed inwardly. He spent so long telling me not to be ashamed of what I was, but there _he_ was looking at me as though he wished I would fall down a hole.

"Erm…this is my friend Isabella. I found her outside of London, half-way through the change and no trace of the vampire who'd started it. So I've taken her in." Henry smiled while I stared at him in surprise; Ember was horrified.

"So they just left her there?! That's awful, you poor thing." She came to put a comforting hand on my shoulder. Why had he lied? It surely can't matter so much whether he changed me or not. I sighed and wore my wary face that I used to lure my prey to me on the hunt. I would go along with his lie for now.

"Truly, it was. But it's all fine now. Henry's helped me so much over the past week or so." I held out my hand for her to shake. "I'm pleased to meet you, Ember." I grinned widely and she did too as she took a hold of my hand.

"And you too, Isabella."

Henry came to stand beside us and whispered in my ear, "Let's be off now." Ember watched the exchange without emotion and suddenly straightened and cocked her head.

In the town there was the sound of church bells ringing frantically and the desperate cries of a horror-stricken man. They had found my most recent victim; I turned my head to listen out for whatever people were calling. Nothing as yet. Henry grabbed a hold of my chin and looked in my guilty eyes with concern. "What did you do Isabella?" he questioned very close to my face.

"I was not as careful as I should have been…" I trailed off and took a step back while I watched both my elders stare at me with fury bright in their contrasting eyes.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I stumbled across one woman, in the street. She smelt so fantastic in this rain and I couldn't resist. She was looking for a ghost…who was in fact me running rather fast by the family's window. I thought I'd hid the body quite well. I'm sorry Henry, Ember." My face was sincere as I gazed upon her strangely coloured face, but her eyes were on Henry's.

"I must go inside," she said hesitantly. "Farewell my Henry, good will to you child and I hope you can get away from here fast enough."

Henry took my hand and we ran into the fields behind Ember's house, then into the forest before we made walking pace again. We were headed west now, the way we had come from.

"You're a fool Isabella! What were you thinking?!" He turned to face me and we stopped.

"Nothing, that's just it, I wasn't thinking _anything_! That's what happens to me Henry, I really tried to stop myself but I just couldn't," I beseeched him to understand my delicate state. He knew what it was like; he was just upset that I'd caught him with his lady friend. The church bells still rung in Barnstaple, this was another mysterious death for the humans to turn over and guess about. I remembered the stories from my human life…man found dead and drained of blood. Now I knew why.

"It's of no matter now I suppose…we'll be in Edinburgh in a few days, to see a friend of mine." Henry smiled at me, the fire of rage gone from his eyes.

"Who is Ransley?" I inquired. Henry's guarded expression told me he didn't like how I had been eavesdropping for so long.

"How long were you standing outside for?" he wondered, answering a question with another question just to be evasive. How frustrating.

"A little while, long enough to discern that Ember is a _very _close friend of yours…but that's not the point. Who is Ransley?"

"He's a friend of mine and I need to speak to him about something." Henry took a hold of me and brought me to his chest. His embrace was comforting, and I sighed as I wrapped my arms around his back. In the back of my mind I wondered what had brought this on; he had never held me like this before. It was almost…fatherly. "I need you to know that I love you Isabella, like you were my own daughter." I nodded, bewildered. I pulled away and he let me go.

"What brought this on?" I joked with a smile.

"Just something my old friend Ember told me. Nothing for you to worry about," he took my hand and we began to walk again. His fingers were wrapped so tightly around my hand that I might have been pain, had I been human.

"You and I both know that Ember is _more _than a friend," I muttered. "Please tell me what's wrong; you're making me nervous." I pleaded with my eyes as we walked and Henry couldn't resist.

"You're evil you know," he laughed and then sighed dejectedly. "There's talk of children, your age and younger, being destroyed because they are uncontrollable." His voice held so much weight as he told me this; it felt as though he wore the world on his shoulders. This worried me.

"Go on," I prompted urgently.

"This means we have to remain inconspicuous for a while, the Volturi are on the lookout for 'immortal children' and unfortunately you fall into that category—"

"But I am controlled! I can stop myself!"

"I'm afraid the events of tonight proved you cannot Isabella." he said this with such tenderness it made my eyes want to well up. I was ashamed of my kill tonight. For the first time since my change I was ashamed of what I was. The sinking feeling in my chest was intense, and I screamed inwardly at the beast, the creature that ruled my hunger. I was also reacting like a child would, throwing a tantrum.

"Don't worry though!" he said, watching the internal struggle in my eyes. "They'll pay little attention to us; we haven't been especially…extravagant," Henry tried to reassure me, taking hold of my hand and squeezing it.

"Who are the Volturi?" I questioned, clearly whoever they were, they were powerful.

"They make sure the vampire world isn't exposed to the human race, at whatever cost. They've taken over from the Romanian coven in the west, it was a great battle but things are settled now and the Volturi are good people I believe. Yes, so it's generally not a good idea to cross them because if you do—you're dead. I remember my old friend Thorne, he destroyed a whole family, and someone saw him tearing one woman's head from her body with his bare hands. That was the end of him, poor sod; the Volturi found him and killed him. His death was swift." I shuddered at his words, clearly the Volturi were not people to be reckoned with. I didn't like the sound of them at all yet Henry thought them to be good. Was he mad?

"Henry, they killed him for killing. I bet that no-one believed whoever saw…Thorne decapitating the woman. _I_ wouldn't have believed him when I was human," I told him.

"You can't justify killing with death." Henry gave me a side-long look. "You don't understand Isabella; things are so simple through a child's eyes…" he said wistfully. "Come on, let's get going."

I released his hand and took off full speed in the direction I guessed to be west, seething with anger. _I hate it when he patronises me_.

**A/N: Please, please, please leave a review. Maybe the next chapter will appear faster. Haha. ;) I am sorry for the wait for this one though! Both me and my beta were busy with other things in the past few months so it's been hectic. I got this out as fast as I could.**


	7. Indecision

**Indecision**

Henry raced ahead of me as we left yet another small village. Having drunk our fill from a few lone humans. I'd found myself thinking of what Henry said about the 'Volturi'; the vigilante heroes of our world. I chuckled to myself; maybe _I _should go off and start off my own little monarchy, my own army. Would all hail to Isabella of London? But how did they get away with killing off vampires, when I'm sure said vampires must have had someone to avenge them? I had no idea there were so many similarities between vampire and human, _humans_ have kings and queens and soldiers. Just like vampires do, so it seems, only with different names.

I wondered about this as I thought of Henry's friend 'Thorne' and I stand by what I think even now—no sane human would have believed that witness. But I've no doubt that they would have attempted to do something terrible to him, burnt at the stake perhaps. although they would never have caught him. How unfair it would be to have come so far only to be killed at the last one hundred yards.

Poor Thorne. Poor Ember. From the number of times I'd asked Henry about her, I could see that he was regretful of their encounter and that he considered her a very close friend, but not a lover. I brought Ember's face into my mind's eye; she had plain features: a circular face framed by a head of blonde hair, filled with thin lips, a sloping small nose, high cheek bones and wide, bright eyes. They were a golden colour; I wanted to be able to get that effect, I was so sick of the shade of red I was accustomed to. I called out to Henry and he slowed to run beside me.

"Yes, Isabella," he asked calmly. He had long since gotten over his anger with me over the past couple of days, and each of his gestures showed that he never wanted us to fight again.

"How did Ember have such yellow eyes? Is it some kind of witchcraft?" I inquired, the awe and disbelief apparent in my voice. He was amused by my line of questioning.

"You should know better than to believe in witchcraft," he chuckled.

"The reason her eyes are that colour is because she doesn't feed like we do, she drinks animal blood instead. Disgusting isn't it?" The idea intrigued me as much as it made my stomach turn.

"How strange. Why does she do that?"

"She was only changed a hundred years after me. She has always had a problem with her conscience. She can't set aside what she has done so she can feel as good as she does, so satiated like we are now. After a couple of hundred years she discovered that the death of an animal left no bad feeling in her mind. Wasn't it exactly what the humans were doing? So for the past millennium or so she's lived on animal blood." Henry blanched at the idea, though I could see he admired her determination. He turned to smile at me.

"You're not abandoning me too, are you?" he jested worriedly.

I thought about my answer for a while before I replied, my stomach clenched and twisted at the idea of being subjected to animal blood after so much human blood. I brought the faces of the many strangers I'd killed into my mind. How many was it now? A hundred? I didn't know, and I was too lazy to start counting. The creature smiled gleefully beneath my consciousness I was horrified by what I'd become. But I could do nothing about it; this was the way things were. I sighed.

"No," I scoffed with Henry. Things were easier when you didn't look too closely.

"Good. I don't want any more converts," he muttered the last part.

Eventually, we reached the gates of Edinburgh and were turned away because we were English, I think the colour of our eyes frightened them half to death too. The Scots and English had been in a long dispute over the town's owner for centuries, and it had been under Scottish rule for just a few months. It wouldn't be long till the King's men were back. So Henry told me anyway. I had no knowledge of fights in the north, and I'd only heard the name Edinburgh in passing.

How simple my life was, with no way of knowing about the affairs beyond London. I and every other working person were kept in the dark about such things as wars. It was only those battles directly affecting us that mattered, and it was shocking to see what happened. There were visible dents in the wall where someone had set a "battering ram" to it…Henry had explained this to me too.

We vaulted over the wall once night fell and Henry seemed to know exactly where to go, he led me down several tight alleyways. His hold on my hand was almost painful. After many curious glances from people wandering the streets, we finally seemed to reach our destination. Something in the air was off though, something vaguely familiar. But I couldn't place it.

The street was seemingly non-descript apart from the alehouse on the corner and it was close to closing time from what I could tell. I took this opportunity to observe my surroundings, and if I was quite honest I would say it looked a lot like London, which I was sure the Scots would _not _be pleased to hear. The stone and wood buildings were all joined up and down the street; there was an arcade of shops. All closed for the night, and I yearned for some new clothes, I still wore my green dress a good two weeks after my change. I felt filthy, too. I could feel the twigs and leaves stuck in my hair, the mud running straight up my legs from running. But alas, there would be no washes for a long time yet. I began to pull out all that I could feel in my long hair, and after about five minutes of plucking and preening I had a small forest at my feet.

Henry took my hand and led me forward, we stepped into the alehouse which looked fairly average—a bar, wooden chairs and tables. There weren't many people inside, there was a man with messy hair who stood behind the bar. I guessed he was the landlord. Also there were a couple of brown haired men sitting in the corner, their blue eyes stared at us. Brothers maybe? And lastly there was a young boy in the corner to my left, his blonde head was cast down looking at the ale he held between his two hands…which were inhumanly pale. He looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, with very masculine features and losing the roundness of every child's face. I could hear only three heartbeats in this room. I looked up at Henry for explanation and found him, looking at the boy in the corner with a slight smile on his face.

He moved into the corner and sat across from the young boy, with me hesitantly following behind. I could feel the eyes of the brothers boring into my back, and it wasn't pleasant. I just wanted them to leave before I killed them first.

"Ransley," Henry said with exultation. The boy looked up now with happiness when he spied Henry, which quickly changed to hostility when he saw me. I stared down and wondered why he was so judgemental of me.

"Henry, what brings _you_ here?" he questioned, his eyes only on my creator's. I raised my head. Who was he to make me feel like I shouldn't be here? I would not be trodden upon.

"I came to ask for some information." Henry looked hopeful as he waited for him to answer.

"What kind of information?" Ransley asked with a strange accent that I couldn't place; I'd never heard it before. He was elongating his words so much and it was difficult to discern what he was saying.

"Have you heard what the Volturi are up to?"

"Yes? What's your point?" His eyes shifted to mine before moving back again to Henry.

"Well, Isabella, meet Ransley," he said gesturing towards Ransley and me. I held out my hand to shake with a smile, he took it and shook once before taking his hand back.

"Isabella is a bit young, she's fifteen and we're going to stay out of the Volturi's way for a while until all this blows over. I wanted to know if you knew anything more, about the plague of immortal children. It's been going on for a while according to Ember…" he trailed off.

Ransley laughed, "Only since the year one thousand." He clapped Henry on the back; the show of camaraderie surprised me. "You haven't been keeping up have you?" Henry looked mildly stunned before he replied.

"Erm, no, apparently I have not." he said with humour before going on. "Anything else you've heard?"

"The infestation in Hispania was terrible; children of six and seven years old running around the streets of Barchelona and Mayrit, ten people killed every half hour at least. This was before the Volturi stepped in though; they completely destroyed anyone even _slightly _involved with them and killed without mercy. So they say, but I don't know I wasn't there. Either way, both cities are clear and it's been over a century since." Both mine and Henry's eyes were wide, awestruck I sat as still as stone. Now I had something to draw comparison to, I could easily build the argument against my being an immortal child. I was an adult.

"That's amazing," was all Henry said. He looked towards me.

"Sounds like you're in the clear Isabella."

"Exactly how long have you been in this existence Bella?" Ransley asked. I turned towards him slowly. Did he just call me 'Bella'? How bizarre, he's barely known me five minutes and he's already giving me new names. I decided it would be rude to act harshly towards him though.

"Just about two weeks," I murmured. It seemed like I had lived a lifetime with Henry already.

"You have admirable control." Ransley smiled. "I doubt you'll have trouble with the Volturi." I nodded in acquiescence and Henry put a fatherly hand on my shoulder.

"Yes, surprising really, such a young one," he agreed. "Is there anything else you could tell me?"

"The number of children was around fifty thousand at the plagues' worst in the year 1250; the most recent count came to ten thousand. The drop in numbers is thanks to the Volturi, it appears there is some danger for their creators too, I haven't heard from many of my friends in years and years—not that that means much though," he sighed before he went on to ask. "Have you ever seen them? Or talked to them? The Volturi?"

"Never, why do you think I'm asking all these questions?" Ransley nodded.

"That's all I know, sorry."

"No matter." Henry stood and so did Ransley. I soon followed suit and we were wandering out into the street. The moon was high in the sky and crowded by stars.

"So where abouts are you headed then?" Ransley asked with his strange accent that I had never encountered before. Elongated words with curling 'r's. This was going to make me go mad if I didn't find out soon!

"Not sure really, south again probably, Englishmen are not welcome in Scotland." Henry laughed as he walked forward to somewhere. He was so pleased to see Ransley that he barely took notice of me or his surroundings. I walked behind the pair, wandering through the night. Anyone we passed shivered and quickened their pace, they didn't like the beauty of the two men, and they didn't like the look of the girl with her head in the clouds. My mind was a thousand miles away at my home, the memory I tried to gather was weak and I couldn't find my mother's face. What I could remember with burning clarity though was the dream I had had the night before the end. How strange that I should see Henry in unconsciousness. How peculiar of me to guess that he would appear even in a joking manner. But what possible explanation was there? None.

**A/N: This chapter was a hellova lot faster, I'd say. :D Show me some love and review! **


	8. Travelling

**Travelling**

On our slow walk out of Edinburgh I learnt that Ransley was in fact Irish, Ireland was a small sea away from England. It shocked me that there was in fact another country right next door and I felt the feeling of idiocy creep over me as Henry told me about this new country. I wondered absently if anyone in my little village knew of it.

The simplicity of my life before Henry was startling, now that I looked on it with a knowledgeable mind beside me. I was also intimidated by the intelligence of Ransley. He was maybe one or two years older than me, yet he seemed to know more than Henry and me put together. I decided to put this down to heritage; he was probably from a wealthy family with a big house and endless gardens.

I sighed loudly and the man and boy turned, their eyes burned like precious stones in the bizarre dark light—the stars were shining above and lighting our path through the crop fields. Both their faces were inquisitive and suddenly they stopped walking.

"Is there something bothering you, Isabella?" Henry asked as he went to take both my hands in his. He crouched slightly so he was on eye level with me. "Are you thirsty?"

"No, I'm just feeling a bit lonely is all," I told him. His face fell slightly while he stood up, releasing one hand and walking me forward beside Ransley.

"Let us entertain you then, Isabella." Henry smiled widely, showing his teeth. Ransley took one of my hands though I had to raise my arm to keep it within his reach. I felt so small between these two men whom I'd been walking with for a day. We were such a strange group, weren't we? From all different ends of the world banded together on a journey to nowhere, we hadn't yet decided on a destination.

"Where are we actually going to Henry?" I questioned, looking up to him on my left side. His eyes were intent on the horizon while he considered his answer. I cast my eyes down again to my feet, they were bare and brown with mud; again I yearned for a good wash.

"I think...York. There'll be plenty of people and no-one will notice a few disappearances." He was still looking into the distance when I looked up. His voice was without inflection so I worried, normally he was cheerful. He didn't like to dwell on unhappy things. Ransley turned his head towards him too, he knew Henry even better than I did. We began to walk again, still in our slow, meandering pace.

"Is there any other reason to go to York?" Ransley inquired in his thick accent that I now knew to be Irish. He scrutinized Henry's expression with narrowed eyes, trying to find out why my creator was so melancholy.

"Not that I can think of, unless you have one?" He only now lost interest in the horizon and his eyes were clear once more, his tone filled with curiosity. He hid his sadness well, but sometimes the façade slipped.

"No." Ransley sighed, turning his head to the horizon. Now was my opportunity to question him on what Ireland was like, they'd immediately sunk into a deep conversation when the country was explained to me.

"What is Ireland like?" I asked him as politely as I could; though the curiosity was tearing me up inside. He turned his gaze on me with affectionate eyes and a gentle smile.

"The last time I visited, it was vast and green and full of wildlife. They spoke in my Gaelic language while they died in the Black Death, begging to live on. 'Níféidir agam bhliain eile? Chun a mo fheiceáil leanaí fás? Dia do thoil!' they said." Ransley quickly took an interest in his shoes as we walked, his face was pensive. I gave his hand a squeeze though I had no idea what those words meant. He lifted his head with a poor attempt at a smile and a silent apology in his eyes. Whatever he'd gone through was horrific and he didn't want to think on it.

"Sorry I asked," I murmured with a grimace.

"It's quite alright, my own fault for describing my last visit rather than how I remember it best. I was born in a hamlet outside of Dublin about three hundred years ago. It was very quiet and the fields went on for miles but the first time I ventured outside of my hometown, I stumbled across a beautiful woman. She lured me into the woods and that was the end of my life, or so I thought. I don't know the name of the woman; I only remember that she had a strong Scottish accent. So I found myself on a boat to the Kingdom of England and headed in the direction of London, thinking it would be the way to Scotland. Of course I was wrong, but if I had known the difference between north and south I wouldn't have met Henry." Ransley smiled wistfully and I saw that Henry was smiling at him in return. They looked like father and son.

"What did you do next?" I prompted keenly.

"We wandered all over the country until we came to the Scottish border, where I left Ransley to move in search of his creator. Speaking of which, I doubt you found her…?" Henry loved to cut a long story short. I sighed as they sprung into conversation once more.

*********

Before long we were passing Carlisle, snacking on the journey through. The sight of that child's face, him _looking_ at me and _staring_ at me. I couldn't erase it from my mind. His eyes had been wide and white as he'd gazed upon his dead father…Ransley hadn't even given the boy a second's thought! How terrified he must have been; yet he hadn't screamed. But when I think of the treatment of some of the boys in my village, and I think of how much they'd love if it were to stop—I can't help but wonder if we'd done him a favour. So sad. Such a poor life they suffered, we suffered, in my village.

I wished I could be as determined as Ember, to live on animal blood for hundreds of years. Before Henry comes to the forefront of my mind, I remember that he would frown upon my change of diet; he'd most likely force a boy under my nose and hold him there till I succumbed to my thirst. But I could dream. I could dream of being a better person. I could dream that I didn't have to be a monster. I could imagine such peace in my soul. Peace I didn't have. Tears came to my eyes that wouldn't fall and I blinked half a dozen times to push them away. Why not further bathe in my horror?

"Bella, what are you doing?" I heard Ransley call. I hadn't realised I'd become still as I thought on these things, Henry and Ransley were half a mile ahead. I ran to their sides again in a flash, I wasn't one for slowing the pace of life.

"What were you thinking so hard about?" Henry asked with drawn eyebrows. His red eyes were glistening in the half light of the dawn. I took his hand as I answered.

"The state of the average English family," I said curtly. "I was thinking of the son of the man Ransley drank from in Carlisle, he didn't scream. I think it most peculiar that the boy didn't scream at the sight of his own father's death." Henry thought about this for a moment and I waited.

"Some children simply never learn to speak, so they have no idea how to produce sounds. Perhaps this is the case for the young boy in Carlisle?" Henry seemed certain of his explanation, although I was sceptical.

"Then why didn't he try to save his father? Run at us?" I replied in a rush.

"Would you have had such bravery in his position Isabella? Really? Would you have run at a fully grown man who had just knocked your father to the ground in an instant? I think not." With that I was silenced, Henry was right. How old must that boy have been? Six? Seven? I didn't know. I hung my head low, thinking.

"No," I answered.

"Well there you have it. Now come along, stop thinking, it never does anyone any good. And if it does any good to one person, it will certainly jeopardise someone else." Henry took my hand at the same time as Ransley.

"Sorry that I troubled you so." Ransley smiled shyly at me, the regret clear on his face. What made him feel sadness so intensely? No-one should feel as sad as he looked, and I was the cause of it.

"It's no matter, just wandering thoughts, everything is so different now. I can look on life in a very strange perspective now that I am not part of it, I can see that everything is skewed and I wish I could change that." I paused a moment, "The norm of then is a rarity now and it's all so confusing." Shaking my head, I concentrated on the horizon. I could see the looks of pity on my companions' faces, I hated pity—it was such a diminishing expression. Like they couldn't be bothered to try and lift my spirits. "Stop that!" I told them, and their faces quickly became neutral.

**A/N: I hope this chapter was satisfactory. :) Please do review!**


	9. Emily

**Emily**

It took us an unreasonable amount of time to find the road which apparently led to Chester, Henry and Ransley insisted they knew that it would take us to York too. So when we finally arrived in Chester I wanted to take a good long look. My verdict on the town, after watching the simple life of my past humanity in the eyes of an outsider, was that every town was the same and Chester was no different. Sighing—as I seemed to be doing a lot of—I carried on behind my two friends; we slowly walked through the town until we began venturing into the residential area.

They suddenly stopped and crouched; where I stood behind I could remember the fierce expressions on their faces as they went for the kill. But they wouldn't be feeding in daylight would they? Henry was breathing deeply and snarling lowly. I took my first breath in hesitantly, as I preferred not to risk our façade by not breathing in crowded spaces. Most prominently I could smell human blood and my mouth filled with venom but there was that smell again, I smelt it in Edinburgh and here it was slightly different. It smelt sweet but this was defined by the distinct smell of…wee. I choked and closed off my breath again. Foul, positively disgusting. But what was it? And what made my companions so upset?

"Henry, Ransley, what's the problem?" I finally asked. They immediately straightened their backs and turned to me. Henry seemed relieved, his mouth turning up in a slight smile; but Ransley looked to be struggling with a violent reaction. He was still growling in his chest and I found it most disconcerting.

"Nothing is a problem. Why have you scrunched up your nose like that?" he wanted to laugh at my expression, I could tell, but restrained himself and tried to look concerned. Ransley took some interest in my answer as well, the growl slowly the disappearing.

"Because when I saw your alarm I decided to try and figure out the problem—and there _is _one, you can't hide it from me—but when I took a breath there was this putrid smell in the air. So I'm expressing my distaste towards it in "scrunching up" my nose." Ransley straightened and shifted his eyes around nervously. I decided to ask again, "Well? What's that smell and why has it upset you?"

Henry hesitated before he answered. "That is the scent of my friend Alistair…you mustn't say anything about it when we meet him though Isabella. I've been careful not to mention it. That means you too Ransley." Henry gave Ransley a stern look before he turned around and began walking with purpose. Ransley fell into step beside me as we tried to keep up with Henry.

"You can stop scrunching your nose now Bella," he chuckled. "Horrid isn't it?" He punctuated the phrase with the gesture of holding his nose. I laughed at his calamity before I covered my nose with my hand and pretended to choke. Ransley feigned concern for a moment before we returned to normal still laughing heartily.

"Are you going to go and be court jesters for the King or are you going to mask your distaste with a big smile while I greet Alistair?" Henry called to us from a little way ahead. Now we were just walking out of Chester and I wondered how far the lead would go before we got to actually _go_ to York.

"How did you adjust to this life, Bella?" Ransley asked, his eyes gazing intently at me. I looked down as I thought about my answer. How had I adjusted? No-one had actually asked me this, not that that meant much as I'd only a handful of vampires _including_ Henry and Ransley. I suppose I'd come to terms with the fact that I would live hand in hand with death. I hadn't properly considered what immortality meant. I was saddened by how I'd never be able to talk with my mother or father again though. I didn't really like moving around so much, it was unsettling. What did all of this amount to? Had I adjusted? Not completely.

"Some parts I understand and accept, like the killing and feeding. But some I really haven't thought about, out of fear more than anything," I told him cautiously. I found myself trusting him absolutely without really knowing him and that was unnatural. I supposed it must be because he was so close to Henry, and I had good reason to trust him. Well it didn't matter anymore, I'd already shown weakness and I couldn't take back my words.

"What are you afraid of?" he inquired, with sadness in his voice. I looked up to see that his hand was reaching out between us, he looked uncertain whether he should take my hand or not. I chose to close the distance between us with the thought in mind, 'it couldn't hurt'.

"I'm afraid of the idea of immortality, I'm afraid of what I will become and I'm scared of the loneliness of my situation should anything happen to either of you." I observed that Henry was slowing his step slightly—probably in an attempt to hear what I would say next. "I'm frightened you will all become tired of me one day."

Henry stopped walking where he was ahead of us and came to take my face in his hands, crouching with the fiercest expression in his eyes. "If you were given eternity with your mother and father, do you think they would tire of you? Would you tire of them?" He waited for me to reply. My hand was still in Ransley's and he squeezed it.

I thought about this for a moment, I didn't think I would get fed-up with my parents for many years, obviously they would need their space but so would I. "No," I answered slowly, drawing it out.

"Well there you have it, I won't get tired of you as long you don't get fed-up with me." He smiled as he took his hands from my face and began walking again. I was reassured by his words; Henry seemed to always know exactly what to say to me. I took the first step forward, Ransley had no choice but to follow—if he still wanted to hold my hand.

*********

The woodland around us was heavy with animal life; small creatures scurried away from the path on which Henry, Ransley and I walked. I had grown used to it now, animals knew when danger was coming and by God, we were dangerous. But it was still slightly depressing, I'd likely never touch another animal again. Henry had decided to walk beside me and Ransley now as we seemed to be walking further and further south into thick vegetation. He took my left hand in his right while he continued to sniff out Alistair who I'd never met before.

Eventually a large house came into view at the end of a lesser trodden on path off to the left, Henry pointed that we go to it and we did. Ransley and Henry released my hands and made their steps much louder as they stepped on dead leaves, the crunching sound was so tremendous I don't know how we managed to reach the house without being warned off or at least acknowledged. The house looked to be quite old and the walls were crumbling, there was no roof and the door was practically non-existent. If all this wasn't a deterrent for travelling humans I didn't know what was.

"Do you know what's really strange?" Henry started. Ransley and I hadn't breathed a whisper since we started on this little trek, nor had we properly paid attention to what was around us—I'd just made offhand observations. "I can smell human blood and I can hear a heartbeat inside that house, but Alistair's scent definitely finishes here." Ransley and I began to truly listen to the woodland now. Henry was right, there was a small heartbeat inside that house.

"Why hasn't Alistair appeared though?" I questioned, furrowing my brow. Ransley went to stand in the doorway and peered in, he gestured for us to come forward with a look of concern on his face. When Henry and I reached the door Ransley stepped in and pointed towards a crumpled figure in the corner of the room that was visibly shaking. In the centre of the room was a small child of no more than five years in age, a long flow of blonde hair covered its face and a dirty blanket covered the child as it slept. The scene was confusing. A vampire shouldn't be cowering in a corner from a five year old. Ludicrous. I went further into the room and brushed the child's hair away from their face, it was a little girl and she was unwell.

"It's no good you standing the doorway, do something!" I told my companions with assertion, but they made no move to do anything. "Why are you not helping Alistair who is plainly terrified? Or helping me tend to the child?" I turned back to the girl and started shaking her as gently as I could to rouse her. I held my breath firmly in my chest as I did this; I didn't want any accidents as much as her blood tempted me. I wished I knew what was wrong with her. In the background I heard one of the men go to Alistair in the corner and ask him what had him so scared.

The girl slowly and unwillingly woke, she groaned as she opened her eyes and she stared at me in shock. I smiled at her; her gaze flickered to my teeth before she started trying to get up. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down, she looked shocked when she found herself on the floor again. I gazed intently at her and waited for her to get upset, but she just stared with equal interest back at me. She had scrapes up and down her face, blue eyes and small lips. I wondered what she was doing with Alistair for a moment before I decided to find out.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her quietly. The girl was startled before she went to answer me.

"I don't know," she told me in a very small voice that was filled with nerves. I looked over to where Alistair was and saw that Henry was consoling him, with a hand on his shoulder. At least he wasn't shaking. Ransley still waited in the doorway.

"Alistair, what is this girl doing with you?" I called across the small room. It was a mess of mud and sticks in here and I wondered how long it had been since the house had been inhabited for a moment when I turned my mind back to the matter at hand. Henry turned to face me with a silencing expression on his face then returned to Alistair. Ransley appeared beside me, not breathing just as I was.

"What's your name, child?" I said to her, keeping my tone soft. She looked uneasy now and shifted her eyes from one side of the room to the other. I hesitantly took a hold of her face with both hands, I made her look directly at me with my eyes imploring.

"Emily," her sweet voice told me. It was a lovely name and I admired her for it. I however, did not appreciate the position she was in, surrounded by vampires and not another village for miles. Where was her family?

"She's a devil child," Alistair murmured shakily. He held one unsteady hand out and pointed at Emily, "She produces visions in your mind. Terrible visions, I saw my own death, she must be killed! Not an hour ago, she showed me my own death, you'll see yours soon, girl! Be warned!" I turned to study Alistair's terrified face, he truly believed it. When I looked down at her I could see nothing of what he had described. Where were the red eyes? The contorted face? No, I didn't believe that of her. Her icy blue eyes stared into mine and I found myself drawn into haze, my mind clouded and all I could see was darkness.

In the distance there was a girl with deathly pale skin, she staggered on a long pathway alone. The sun set and everything was plunged into darkness, but the girl remained in light. She eventually came into view and suddenly it hit me. This girl was me. I had a gormless expression on my face, I had burning red eyes and blood fell from my lips in droplets. I was dead.

I could hear screaming as the darkness lifted and ice blue fell into my eyes. Whoever it was screamed denial, one comforted, absently I felt hands on my shoulders and shaking; when the shrieking stopped. "Stop it, Bella!" a masculine voice called. "Stop screaming! It's not real! Whatever you saw, it wasn't real!" I felt stone arms come around me as I sobbed. I didn't know quite what to do. Should I push these arms away? But it was so comforting, and I held them tight to me. "It's not real Bella, not real, not real."

But it was so real, so frightening and so terrible. I couldn't seem to really find my body. I couldn't even see anything, just ice blue. "Make it go away, the blue, I can't see anything but blue." In the background there was a rustling before my sight returned to me. "You won't let me get like that will you Ransley? Won't let me die? I can't die; I can't lose myself and let the creature take over. I won't." Ransley stared at me as he held me, the red of his eyes soft. I took in the room around me as the insanity left me, Emily lay on the floor asleep and Alistair and Henry hovered behind Ransley. I couldn't get far enough away from the girl, she was evil, she was not right—I completely agreed with Alistair. "You are right Alistair, she can't be allowed to live, she is cruel, she must be the devil, I saw my death too. I saw…I saw myself on a pathway to nowhere and I had blood dripping from my mouth and I was mindless. It was so horrible!" I trembled and went to sit in the nearest corner, "Please just leave me alone for a moment," I said calmly over my shoulder. I curled into a ball and stared straight ahead.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Now please leave a review!**


	10. Grave Mistake

**Grave Mistake**

"This girl will be the means to an end," Alistair said gravely. The child still slept even after the sun had set; Alistair, Ransley and Henry were discussing her fate in response to my verdict of demonic possession. Alistair was the only one who agreed, Ransley remained unsure while Henry had his mind completely set on changing the girl with the promise of nationwide recognition.

"The Volturi could never harm any vampire again with Emily…" Henry replied gleefully. "Of course they have done a marvellous job in getting rid of the immortal children, but really. Should the creators be prosecuted as well? Surely they must have as good a reason as mine for changing Isabella."

"Henry, I know you better than you know yourself in some ways. And I am telling you that your reasons for changing Bella were _less_ than honourable," Ransley scoffed. I wanted to furrow my brow in disgust, but couldn't quite bring myself to do it. Not when I could still see her ice blue eyes and my dead ones whether my eyes were open or closed. I was paralysed.

I heard the clipped echo of something being hit and the hurt cry of Ransley. "You deserved that," Henry said. I could imagine the smile on his face. He had the strangest of expressions sometimes, mainly apathetic though—his smooth features often calmed me when I was reminded of what I was doing. Of the killing. Sometimes he would look very satisfied with himself, although he hadn't done anything that could warrant such an emotion. But rarely would I see the look of glee in his eyes when he'd discovered something of great importance to him. I would bet money if I had any, that this was the expression he wore at this moment, while my vision was veiled.

There was the sound of someone jumping to their feet and another person sounded to be right beside me. "Can you hear all of this Bella?" A hand brushed the air in front of my face several times before it was removed. I could feel cool breath on my neck; apparently someone was not going to move until I responded in some way. The same hand that had waved now came to caress the side of my face; I took in a breath and choked on it. Wee, flowers, autumn, death and blood filled my nose. The hand came away from my face and went to grab my hands wrapped around my legs. "Bella, please wake up…we know how you feel about Emily and we acknowledge that but we can't make any decisions until you contribute to the argument," Ransley stuttered.

"Kill it," I said. "It is born from hell, and it must be destroyed." My eyes opened to the same room I had seen before—there was no darkness as yet—though the expressions on my friends' faces looked to be as bleak as a storm cloud. Henry was decided, as was Alistair. They were equally for and against the child being killed or changed. Ransley, however, sat beside me with his face a picture of horror and fear.

"Maybe it is a reaction that her body has, and she can't control it Isabella." Henry pleaded with his eyes and glided closer to me, "You probably scared her half to death." He went to the child on the floor, his speed was hesitating and he stayed a good yard from where the girl slept. Her face was so human and peaceful that you would never guess the amount of destruction and death that was hidden very cleverly behind the icy blue orbs of her eyes.

"But why does that reaction lie in her, exactly? Why is the child named Emily? That name bears the meaning of a rival—someone to be feared surely. Please see sense Henry! She is ill," Alistair shouted in his desperation, his eyes wild.

"You may fall victim to these superstitions Alistair, but I won't be deterred by them. I've seen too much to believe in such fallacy, they are nothing but coincidences. All of them. Every single event you can blame on superstition, but the truth lies in the hands of fate." Henry pointed to Emily, who lay on the floor. His elaborate display of emotion shocked all of us. It was only Ransley who had not spoken yet and I looked to my left at him; he appeared determined when he opened his mouth to speak next.

"So all of our lives have been played with, like the play things of Fate? And we were all meant for this life, as vampires because someone we cannot see said so. Because that is what you are saying amounts to," Ransley stood now and ended his path chest to chest with Henry. "But didn't you determine Bella's fate when you saw her and changed her?"

Henry was unwavering in his resolve as he went on to answer him. "No, I sealed Isabella's fate; Fate laid me on my path through her village. Fate made her step out into the street and fall. Fate made her bleed."-

"And that is where Fate's intervention ended Henry. _You_ made the decision to abduct and change her into a vampire." Ransley turned his back and took several steps away from Henry. "_You_ did that to her." Henry's arm dropped to his side, his face was horrified and panic-stricken.

As much as I hated this situation, I hated the look on Henry's face. He never lost hope. Never was scared. But then, I'd only known him a matter of weeks…I sighed and stood. Everyone but the sleeping child looked in my direction, their heads swinging round swiftly.

"Henry, are you quite sure you could control her?" I just didn't want our little group to break up; I wouldn't let a five year old tear us up. The vision Emily had put in my head came to mind and I shuddered. If I had no-one to stop me from becoming the monster that I worked to hide, if I had no-one to remind me of whom I was; surely this creature would triumph. The animalistic, vampiric tendencies would claim my body and rule to quench my thirst with no consideration for anyone else. I could not allow that to happen.

"Yes, I'm sure I could control her, she could be easily contained." Henry smiled gleefully again, with thanks in his eyes.

"Henry, how do you plan to contain her when she reduces me and Isabella to fearful, shaking fools? She'll make a similar image appear in your head when you try to touch her." Alistair rushed to stop Henry's outstretched hand, gripping it firmly in his hand. Henry stared at Alistair's hand as if he could burn it away with his gaze, his fists clenched as he jerked his gripped wrist to the side so that Alistair was thrown off. Alistair hit the far wall with a crash and the wall collapsed on top of him.

I stood stunned with Ransley as he slowly came to stand in front of me. Alistair emerged from the ruins of the wall, his pale hand shoving pieces of rubble aside before his head appeared. There was a moment of stilling silence. Henry's temper raged on his face and screamed out in the tension of his body, he moved to stand tall when he turned in Alistair's direction. "Alistair, you are a dear friend but don't attempt to thwart my plans again," he said sternly. And with that he went to pick up Emily and cradled her tiny body in his arms; yet she didn't stir.

Suddenly, the first rain in weeks fell from the heavens; it created beautiful new sounds as it hit the forest floor. Henry and Emily disappeared through the crippled door and into the wilderness. Ransley and I turned to look at each other, we could scarcely believe all that had transpired in just the past few hours. Alistair finally lifted himself from the rubble, brushing off his clothing. He looked more than shaken.

"I'm so sorry," I said to him quietly before I followed the pair out into the woods. I felt as though I was betraying Alistair by leaving him there. But what could I do? The vision the child had presented to me terrified me more than anything, solitude was such a terrible thing and I didn't understand how anyone could want it. Ransley was hot on my heels when I reached the outskirts of the forest, still chasing Henry and the potential he saw in his arms. I shuddered.

*********

Ransley and I finally came to a stop at the scent of human blood as it was infected by Henry's venom; he clutched his hand to his mouth and held his mouth closed while he quivered. Finally I took in the scene around me, the vast size of the field intimidated me and animals grazed despite the downpour. The scent of the rain filled my nose, it was refreshing—I felt as though I'd been woken after a very peaceful sleep. Emily was lying in the thick grass shaking yet still unconscious.

I drew nearer walking with slow and measured steps until the expression on Henry's face became apparent. Terror was written like a thousand tiny candles all over his face, but there was something else there. Resolution? Emily had shown him something and he had accepted it. The hand that covered his mouth moved to take my hand and he gripped it as though I would disappear any moment. I felt like crying at the state of him.

"Please help me, Isabella! Please help me! I've done something terribly wrong and I've been a fool! I should have listened…" his eyes pleaded for forgiveness before he bowed his head. I sat beside him swiftly, my dress fanning out around me as I rested on the soaking grass. I took his hand in both of mine. Emily must have used her devilish gift against him too.

"What did you see Henry?" Ransley's voice came. He put a gentle hand on my shoulder and sat on his legs next to me. Concern was evident on his features, mirroring my own no doubt. Emily opened her eyes and let out a blood-curdling scream, all our heads turned to meet her terrified eyes. Nearby cows moaned in response and moved away from our grouping.

"I saw myself in a dark room with no windows and no doors, I was a shrivelled creature in the corner of this room and there was nothing I could do to save myself." Henry finally looked up at us with understanding plain on his face. "I'm sorry I wasn't more sympathetic to you Isabella, and now I've lost a dear friend because of my foolishness. How _do _I intend to control it?" He looked dejectedly on the horizon.

Emily screamed until dawn came when we had to move into the woodland again. Her eyes were red as she stared at us, as if we were responsible for this. Well, I wasn't and nor was Ransley. However, Henry remained guilty of his crime.

Eventually sunset closed and the rain ceased to reveal a stunningly clear and bright night sky. Absently, I wondered what was left for all of us once the child was finished changing. Where would we go? What would we do with such a young one? I severely doubted she could be as controlled as I considered myself after those first three kills. I was aware of what I was doing, I knew it was wrong. But she wouldn't. _She doesn't_. Henry had made a grave mistake, and we would all pay for it.

**A/N: Didn't see that coming, did ya? :) Please leave a review, I reply to all of them!**


	11. Revelation

**Revelation**

The woodland around us was silent, not a whisper. The only sounds coming from our breaths and the whimpering of the changing child. The dark night enveloped the beautiful landscape of Mercia before it met our disturbing presence where darkness could not hinder us, our eyes were indifferent to the loss of light. Everything took on a different tone without it however; there was an air of fear. And there was a feeling that gave me the idea England was waiting for something. As if a great threat lay just beyond the hills.

We all sat stiffly leaning against various trees at the edge of the forest. My eyes were trained on the changing girl in the centre of our defensive circle. She shook frequently, moaned and wailed every few hours and tried to grasp anything in her reach. Ransley was nervous, his gaze roamed all over our small settlement and his fingers gripped together—restraining himself.

Henry sat with his knees drawn to his chest, his face was thoughtful while his eyes were staring fixedly at Emily. What could be going through his head I didn't know, but I hoped he was going to eventually decide to kill the girl before she could destroy us all.

"All that time ago, I never thought that I would come to this. I never knew that what I considered such a savage creature could form a kind of civilised society." Henry smiled wryly. "The Volturi are a strange group, they have very bizarre ideals, they dreamt of a new world when they took over from the people in Transylvania." I wondered if he meant for us to hear what he was saying or whether he was telling us one of his quirky little stories. But the grave tone of his voice solidified his words to be the truth and not a tall tale.

Suddenly he turned to me, "You will be fine, nothing can touch you. You will win." His eyes bore into me with conviction. What was all of this talk? For one, where did the Volturi come into it, and second…what will I "win"?

"What's this nonsense you're talking Henry? What have the Volturi got to do with it?" Then it struck me. Undoubtedly they would become involved when the girl escaped us, as a newborn _immortal child_. I took in a dry breath and swallowed, the scent of Emily's humanity slipping away by the second filling my mind. "_Oh no_…"

Ransley appeared at my side, his arm coming to rest around my shoulders. "What's wrong Bella?" He turned my head to meet his eyes, the crimson begging for explanation.

"She's finally realised our fates Ransley, the Volturi will arrive on English soil the moment word spreads of the massacres cross-country." He paused, "When Emily wakes she will be gone in the blink of an eye, ready to feast on the hundreds of people that live in Mercia and beyond. We won't be able to stop her because she has no sense of right and wrong; she wouldn't hesitate to rip us to shreds. She wouldn't hesitate to use her gift to make us easy prey for her. Either way, the Volturi will intervene and eventually you, Isabella and I will suffer for my foolishness." Henry hung his head in shame. "I'm so sorry."

Ransley sat down on the forest floor with a thump, despair setting in. "So we are condemned," he murmured. I shifted towards Emily, brushing her hair away from her face.

"Is there nothing we can do? Hasn't it occurred to you Henry, that we could simply tear her to pieces before she can do anything?" I stared into the girl's angelic face and I was struck by her young age. Could we really, truly do that to her? Could any of us take her arm and rip it from her tiny body?

"Not in her state, one of the first things the venom does is solidify the skin. Her body could no more be torn apart now than if she were a rock," Henry said quietly. "Didn't you notice the temperature of her skin? Ice cold." He looked away silently and I moved backwards to my previous position in Ransley's arms resting against the tall and harsh tree.

"So we wait."

"We wait." Henry nodded in affirmation.

*********

"Who will lose," I wondered as dawn broke once again. "What will I win Henry?" I turned my head towards him slowly, his eyes met mine evenly. The dawn light gave the forest the most wonderful colourings, varying shades of red and orange gave life to the landscape. But still there was that feeling of anticipation, though the fear became mostly unnoticeable. England was waiting for something.

"You will survive because you have to Isabella," Henry replied simply. "Your opponent will become clear soon." I hated the riddles he was speaking in. Why couldn't he just tell me it straight? My frustration obviously showed as Ransley's arm tightened around me. Sighing, I lay my head back against the tree.

"Help me!" a small voice exclaimed through clenched teeth. All of our heads audibly turned to the quivering child lying on the floor. But she was looking at me. Staring straight at me, as if she could see what was meant for me and I knew what was meant for her. The icy blue of her eyes was dull now, darkening to sapphires imbedded in snow-white skin. For the first time since I knew what this strange girl would be capable of, I felt sympathy towards her. What a life to be tied to.

Emily didn't move but lapsed back into her restless slumber, Henry appeared astonished that was able to do such a thing. I found that I missed that part of humanity; the hours of sleep each night could do so much good. So calming and relaxing for the mind. I closed my eyes and willed sleep to come for me, though I knew it never would again.

"_Do you think it's all over? We haven't heard anything from anywhere in the world for quite a while. Have our people finally learned?" a tall and willowy creature asked. He spoke quietly to a number of pale and quivering figures. Only two of what looked like a few dozen appeared to have any comfort in the stony, circular room. _

_There were red banners hanging from various golden poles fastened to the walls. Behind the speaking creature there were three extravagant thrones, much like I imagined our King's looked like. With gold and bronze adorning the top of the backs of the chairs, it was fine craftsmanship. In the backs of them was a wooden carving of three blackbirds—their necks joined and their beaks came into one to point to the floor. _

_The creature who'd spoken had his back to me, but the two other confident creatures stepped through the crowd to take their seats in the thrones. Their eyes were a bright red and they wore red cloak with golden on the trims, as they moved their pale hands came up to take down their hoods. One bore jet black hair, the other a very light blonde. The crimson of their cloaks only made their vampirism more obvious and I felt as though I should be fearful of them. _

_Those remaining white people still shook silently and then sat on their knees on the stone floor. I watched them with curiosity. Why would they bow? At that moment, the heavy wooden doors behind the trembling people opened wide where another seemingly confident figure stood. _

"_There's been another report of immortal children in England, Master," the man said, his eyes roaming around the room swiftly before turning his gaze back on his Master. _

_The Master sighed and went towards the man in the doorway, stepping carefully through the bowing people. "You bring me terrible news Felix…I was rather hoping we could call this plague over. Alas, we must renew our efforts." With that he swivelled on the balls of his feet to address the rest of the room. "My friends, we must take another trip to England," he said impressively, his voice flowing into the room. _

"_The report is coming from the north, by the name of Alistair, he says that there is one in the making," Felix said to the Master's back._

"_In the making? How did he manage to get word here so quickly?" the white-blonde vampire asked from his throne. His hand held his cheek in a look of utter boredom though his eyes reflected a great amount of interest. He put on a good front. _

"_He ran to Calais and spoke with Katrina, she carried the message to various other members of the guard across France so that you could hear it today," the man rushed through his explanation. He still held one of the doors in his hands and his fingers were gradually beginning to crush the metal of the handle. _

"_We must act swiftly then," the Master said to the blonde vampire. The blonde man nodded and waved off Felix before he settled back into his chair more comfortably. The Master came to rest in his own throne between the two other vampires. Felix left the room and began walking down the corridor, taking the initiative to organise one of the horse and cart be ready within the hour. _

I wrenched my eyes open, shocked by my dream. I'd thought sleep was impossible, Henry had been it was such a disturbing dream, it felt almost real. And if I had dreamt, why would I be thinking up these regal characters? Felix and the Master? Such bizarre names, that I decided to voice my concern.

"Henry, I thought vampires could not sleep…" I started, pausing. My mind had conjured such unusual people, such a strange room. I had never witnessed royalty, so where had I got the idea of the magnificent thrones.

"We cannot sleep, it is true." Henry smiled slightly, comfortingly. Ransley's arm clenched around my shoulders and brought me to his chest. My head lay on stone as I considered this fact. I had not felt drowsy before I 'slept'. I had no idea how I had created the beings in my head. Nor did I know where the beautiful and sinister room had come from. Most peculiar…

My companions held puzzled looks on their faces. How could I communicate my own bewilderment to them? It felt almost impossible and they would probably think I was mad. But I needed to know what had just happened.

"I just had the strangest dream, Henry. I dreamt of a fantastic room, with three thrones in its centre. These thrones bore magnificent gold and bronze, and had wooden carvings up the back." I looked up at Henry, where he sat waiting for me to continue. "The wooden carving showed three black birds, they joined at the neck and pointed to the floor. There was a tall vampire whom went by the name of 'Master'; he seemed to be in charge. And then another vampire came through these really high, heavy wooden doors and said… "There's been another report of immortal children in England." There was also mention of Alistair." Henry stared blankly at me.

"I don't think that was a dream, Isabella," Henry said uncertainly, his eyes filling with some foreign emotion I had never encountered before. "I have heard of vampires with gifts, like Emily will have eventually, and other gifts. Like that of a vampire who could tell one's greatest regret from one touch. One who could fill someone with such happiness…or sadness. Or one gift similar to your own, a vampire who could see a person's death." Henry was thinking about something for a very long time before he went to his feet, and began to pace.

"Tell me what you saw, word for word." So I did. Henry and Ransley's expressions became more and more taut, the former angrier than the latter. Emily was all but forgotten by my friends, though she shrieked and cried all the more when she received no attention. Her eyes were now as black as burnt wood and her body writhed helplessly.

"It appears our friend has betrayed us to the Volturi," Henry said, his neck stiff as he spoke. My mind filled with confusion. They were taking my dream as literal?

"What?! You don't know that! It was probably just a dream, Henry. Ransley? You don't believe that Alistair would tell on us do you?" Ransley stared back at my pleading eyes emotionlessly and silently. I could scarcely believe my ears. "Have you both gone mad? It was just a stupid little dream."

"Vampires can't dream Bella! Don't you understand? You've seen the truth, this is your gift! We have a forewarning of their approach that neither Alistair nor the Volturi will have anticipated." Ransley smiled. Henry looked as if he may explode, his face seemingly paler than usual.

"Ransley," Henry stopped and put a hand on Ransley's shoulder. "You know we won't survive, even with Isabella's warning. We may as well try to kill the King if we attempt to escape. We _will_ be found. We _will_ be killed. You shouldn't try to shelter her from that fact," Henry's voice held all the sadness in the world and his face was resigned.

I was shocked. I needed to get away. I didn't want to die, this was Henry's fault. It was all on him! Why should all of us suffer the consequences? I thought of the tall vampire in the beautiful room, I thought of the pale people bowing at his feet, I felt his majesty and realised my fate. I would go down with this ship whether I liked it or not. I would be killed by association and I was struck by the complete unfairness of this. I screamed loudly and for well over a minute in frustration, the cry of Emily and fluttering birds answered my call. I hated this. I loathed Henry for putting me in this dire situation.

I stood up, trying to make myself as tall as possible and approached Henry slowly, with measured steps. "You've ruined us all, Henry! We will all pay for your foolishness and your self-absorbed dreams of majesty falling to your feet because of THAT thing!" I punctuated my point by thrusting a pointed hand in the direction of the demon child. "I shouldn't even be in this situation! I was quite content in my little human life, not a worry in the world. I had a mother and a father and I had a LIFE! I HATE YOU! YOU ARE THE MOST DISGUSTING BEING I HAVE EVER LAID MY EYES ON AND…" I trailed off. I didn't want to say I wished death on him, because truly I didn't. But by God, I hated him. I never wanted to see him again. "…and I never want to see you or Emily ever again. I want to believe I have some chance at living at least a week more before whatever comes for me comes. I will have warning, you won't, you won't know what hits you until it does," I hissed through clenched teeth, and I felt myself crouching further until I was almost ready to pounce on him. But I stopped myself. I would not have a hand in his death, I would leave him.

This second.

**A/N: Well? Please leave a review. This is the quickest update ever on this story. lol**


	12. Blackbirds

**Blackbirds**

_The Master leapt up onto his snow white horse, it startled at the sudden affliction of terrible danger. Master patted the horse's neck so as to reassure it and looked behind him._

"_Are we all ready?" he asked darkly but jovially. His voice held weariness masked by the overbearing cheerful manner he kept about himself. The people who were on horseback behind him—a sum of about six people—nodded silently. _

_The riding party started off at a trot._

My head felt like it would explode with each vision delivered to me. On my walk away from Henry, Ransley and Emily I had stumbled upon a stream which I used to clean my legs in. The feeling of all that muck coming off was beyond pleasant and I could only hope this signified a new beginning for me. Eventually I had passed Chester again and headed into a new forest to rest and think. I may never get tired, but that didn't mean I was never fatigued. Running took its toll.

Everything looked much the same. The same sounds, same smells. The same taste of animal blood settled on my tongue as I took a breath of the forest, grass and sunshine. Beautiful. I strolled into a small clearing; wild flowers were blooming on the ground—though I could not name any one of them—and swayed in the calm breeze of twilight. I sat in the centre of this clearing with my legs crossed and my hand pulling on the strands of grass under my feet.

So this was it. The end of my short time would come soon no doubt; I'd give it maybe three weeks. Master and Felix would end all of our lives, the blonde haired vampire who seemed to take so much pleasure from news of another immortal child…blackbirds. Birds who would take what they _could_ take and feel no remorse for their prey. Not that they could of course, they were just birds, they had no conscience. Master should have a conscience though, the blonde vampire should have a conscience yet they seemed to thirst for a new challenge. Blackbirds by nature.

_Master rode his horse at a gallop now, as the Italian countryside rushed beside him. The horse kicked up heavy dust in its wake regardless of the other horses in tow. All of them had purpose in their eyes, red flashing in the clouded sunlight. _

There were fast footsteps coming from behind me and I recognised them as Ransley's. There was no-one with him and I guessed he'd come to beg me to come back to him and Henry. Stand together. He ran straight past me before he skidded and came to rest beside me. He sat on his legs for a moment when he finally settled on the woody ground. I was struck suddenly by his scent, a rich earthy smell combined with honeysuckle that I could only associate with my mother.

"Bella," he started. His eyes were intent on my face, tracing every movement in it. I waited for him to continue his speech and grew impatient as the day wore on.

"Ransley are you going to say something? Are you Henry's messenger?" I teased him bitterly with my lips pursed. He looked hurt for a moment before he composed himself, his brow furrowing.

"I am not Henry's messenger. But I do have news; Emily finished her change but I ran off before she could wake up. Henry will care for her. Not that he'll have much luck…" he sighed and took a twig from the ground snapping it effortlessly. "So I thought that the best thing I could do was look after you," he smiled. Dimples I hadn't noticed before showed themselves and endeared him. Ransley would care for me.

"Then I guess you should know that the Volturi are crossing into France as we speak," I told him. My hands took a twig from the ground and snapped it into several small pieces, then flung them across the forest in frustration. "This is such utter…urgh." Ransley looked up at me, his eyes reflecting a lot of resentment for someone; that person was most probably Henry. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"I just wish I'd never set foot outside of my village all those years ago," he murmured thoughtfully. I could understand that. I wish I hadn't fallen over in the street, and I wish I had been less like a stunned rabbit upon sighting of Henry. I wish I had run. But, alas, what is past is the past. And we must make do with the future, whatever it holds for us.

"But you did, and sadly you met Henry," I replied after a moment, taking his hand in mine. "We were both too young; we are _still_ too young for any of this." Ransley squeezed my hand and a slight smile crept up his face.

"We are unfortunate souls, Bella," he breathed. Ransley leant forward and took me into his arms, holding me against his chest. He laid his head against my own, taking a deep breath in and letting a shuddering breath out. "I don't want to die," he sobbed suddenly. "I don't want to die!" I twisted round and threw my arms around his neck, rocking him slowly while he cried tears that were there in spirit but not in body. Tears we had been robbed of. His face was screwed up in fear and sadness; I wanted to rub away the lines in his forehead. I wished that when death _did_ come for us it would be quick, and painless.

Poor Ransley.

*********

We started walking north at sunset, with the light fading our skin would not stick out in the bright sunlight. The Volturi had just passed a place called Avignon a mere hour ago and their estimate of how long it would take to cross France was that of two days. They'd shed their horses at a water butt by the side of the road and retreated into the trees to continue the rest of the journey. Such a trip would exhaust their horses when truly they could go much faster on foot.

I was glad to have finally learnt all their names when they had a conversation. Master was named Aro, and accompanying him was Felix, Caius—the blonde haired vampire—was very distant to the rest of their party. Eleazar and Heidi were good friends with a person called Lucian who was born an Englishman. He had taught Aro how to speak English on first touch, and in turn he had educated everyone else.

Ransley gripped my hand firmly, as though I would float away if he could not anchor me. Or maybe I was anchoring him? Either way, our connection had grown stronger with each passing second.

"Any more sights, Bella?" he asked, his voice crackling like a drunkard's. I had yet to see any more progress in the Volturi's advance.

The light of the sun eventually closed on the horizon, its brightness leaving behind a very dark night. There was no moon in the sky tonight and it didn't help that the clouds were moving in. Trees moaned around us as the wind picked up, their newly-formed leaves floating away with the breath of Earth. The temperature steadily dropped as the night wore on, and we made our crossing of the river Mersey.

Ransley's break down made me feel ever stronger; and I knew I had to take charge. Take charge. Take…charge. How could I take charge? I was a fifteen year old girl with little to no knowledge of the rest of the world. I didn't even know that we had a country named Ireland closer to England than France. I was a useless little girl in a big, big place. An insignificant figure. My only strength was my foresight. But when the Volturi would find us, what could I do then? It would be six to two, six skilful members of the 'Guard' against me and Ransley.

There was no question about who would win this battle. The Volturi would be here in a matter of hours and we had no way to save ourselves. I guessed that Emily would be found first, but what would they do once they saw her gift? Would they keep her for themselves? Henry seemed to think that she would be a magnificently frightening weapon that he could use against them. Perhaps the Volturi would think much the same. Perhaps they would trap her and drag her along with them as they went to find us.

Maybe they would destroy her before she had a chance to use her gift. Henry would be next; they'd seek him out and kill him too. I remembered the conversation Ransley had with my creator, "_It appears there is some danger for their creators too, I haven't heard from many of my friends in years and years_." That's what Ransley had said. He'd thought nothing of it at the time. But what if that was the truth? What if this was exactly the outcome of the creation of an immortal child? I knew it to be true, because I'd seen the harrowed look on Ransley's face when I told them of my sight.

Silence fell over the forests as we rushed through the warning green hands of nature. It would snatch us away if we weren't careful of our footing. The hollow floor of the forest sounded with our footsteps and animals hidden there burrowed deeper. We were the threat here; we the vampires were the predators and the hunters.

But we, the vampires, were the hunted on this dark night. For a change.

**A/N: A shorter chapter, but it will be worth it in the end. Which is not far off, may I add! Please leave me a review of what you are thinking right now.**


	13. Freedom in Perspective

**Henry's POV**

**Freedom in Perspective**

Isabella sped away then, mud kicking up under her feet as she ran. I felt a great tugging in my heart, as though I'd lost something of great importance and I felt tears prickle in my eyes. The forest blurred as venom clouded my vision and my eyes went to the floor. I blinked, and a small burning teardrop fell down my face. I had never wept; I hadn't thought it possible to. But I'd been wrong. I'd been wrong about a lot of things, and at great expense!

I heard Emily cry beside me, ferally. She was a devastating reminder of what I'd done. Emily was the price I would pay for my foolishness. It had taken Isabella to make me see that. In my long and lonely years, I had forgotten how to care for anyone but myself. Every person I had ever met, every _vampire_ I should say because in truth—we were not people. People were things which vampires feasted on. I was not a person. I was a creature. Every creature I had ever met, was independent, they had already woken in the middle of a strange forest or field frightened by the brightness of sunlight. They had gone in search of blood. They had been _alone_.

I felt more alone than any one of them right now. Biting Emily had been the most selfish act I had ever committed.

"Henry it's nearly time," Ransley said, his Irish accent thicker. I looked up at him; his eyes were filled with hatred as he looked upon the child. Emily was shuddering and writhing on the floor and it was only a matter of time until she rose to begin her reign of terror. Feeding on each and every human she came across, the Volturi would not have far to look.

I sighed and rose to my feet, taking in a breath. Ransley came towards me and wrapped his arms around my chest. He hugged me for all he was worth, crushing me. He loosened his grip as I squirmed to reach my arms around him too. My Ransley, he would remain faithful to me. I smiled and took in his scent, the smell of honeysuckles washing over my mind and soothing.

Emily's keening scream shattered the forest and birds that had begun to nest for the night flew with a rustle of leaves. _There is nothing more harrowing than the desperate cry of a child, much less a child dying of thirst._ Ransley stepped away from me and stared into my eyes, I saw myself reflected in him. Terror and uncertainty. Resignation. He started to say something, "I love her, Henry." I wasn't sure I'd heard him right, and told him to repeat himself

"I love her, Henry, and I can't leave her alone. Not after everything that has happened to her." Ransley gripped my arms in his hands and squeezed them one final time before he disappeared into the growing shadows of the forest. Oh. I grimaced, so this was how it would end. This was how I would die.

I would be alone, having pushed my friends away from me with my god damned selfishness! I wanted to tear myself apart. I wanted it all to end. I wished I had never existed, and then Isabella would be safe as would Ransley. If only I had not gone looking for my brothers in the forest a millennia ago. If only.

Emily was upon me then shaking me in her hands much like Isabella had. Begging for blood, her sweet voice cut into me like a thousand tiny knives. Such a young one, such little time. And just like that, I was gone. My arm was torn from me, as my legs soon followed after. And Emily was glorious in her beauty; her eyes flashed red as she scurried off into the forest. She needed blood and she would find it. Soon.

*********

"What will you do Master?" a female asked with glee. "What can we do with this…Henry?" I could only see the sky, I had been lain on my back for over a day incapable of moving. Emily had torn me to shreds; it was only a matter of time until the Volturi Guard destroyed me once and for all. It was what I deserved. The woman who had spoken had a thick accent, from Scandinavia.

"I think the child has made this a much easier task for us, my friends. Bring me his hand," another person said, perhaps with an Italian accent. I had no doubt that this was Aro, as he had been addressed as 'Master'. I wished there were some way to turn myself over; it served only to disconcert me as I lay here bodiless. Someone took measured steps towards me and picked something up from the ground. Aro sighed in frustration and there was a dull thump as something hit the floor. "The child has rendered him useless to me. Start a fire," he said. There was bustling around me as creatures gathered things from the floor and suddenly I was raised off the ground.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound would come out. I could not take a breath, so therefore I could not speak. I wanted to shout and scream at my captors, to tell them to leave me alone. But what could I do then? What could I very well do, with just my head? Conversation carried on around me.

"Where to from here, Master?" a male to the left of me asked. He also sounded distinctly Italian and his voice was timid and uncertain. I watched the forest pass in a blur as I listened to their conversation intently. The feminine hand that held me was somewhat soothing, her skin was soft much like any vampires' skin. There was a certain amount of respect in the fact that she didn't grip me by my hair, as any savage would when placing a treacherous head on a spike at York castle.

"Emily remembered everything of how she came to be, even the journey she took during the change. I imagine the best person to search for now would be…Isabella. Ransley's whereabouts however she did _not_ know. I imagine he followed the girl," Aro replied from ahead. I could not see him in great detail from the angle I was rested at, but a red cloak floated behind him in the wind. The rich colour was something I'd never seen before, not on any royalty in England. Yet it smacked of regality and power. The Volturi were important creatures and they liked to flaunt it, even if it would be smattered with blood eventually.

"Their scents should be easily followed," a crisp voice answered, once more with a thick Italian accent. He was off to my right somewhere; the grass I assumed he trod on made no sound. These vampires were more silent than any mute swan, most likely the product of many hundreds of years in practice.

"Let us finish off the treacherous sod first though," one other male reminded them. The wind shivered as he shook something in the air, perhaps an arm or a leg.

"It is not far now," Aro breathed. The world was filled with glittering sunshine today and their skin threw the light off in random directions as we travelled. The forest opened out into a large field and I was set on the lush ground once again. They all rushed around in the forest—from what I could hear—and started piling wooden sticks on top of me. I knew what would come next. They would kindle a flame and that would be the end of me.

So this was it. This field was where I would rest forever. This was the end of my time; born over a thousand years ago I would be killed by the Volturi. Isabella flashed into my mind, her beauty striking me once again as strongly as when I first came upon her, hands dripping blood. Isabella was stunning, and would be right until the end of the world. As would Ransley, the kindest but most vengeful soul I had ever come across. And Ember, whose love consumed me once before I tired of her.

I found that I could be angry no more, be _saddened_ no more. The cold fingers of acceptance crawled over me slowly, my hair burning away to ash. I had nothing left, but my freedom. But this was precious, because if a man didn't have his freedom, then his restraints would eventually crush him. Death would find him, maybe not in body, however, most definitely in spirit.

I had my freedom, if I had nothing else. This, I hoped, would carry me well into the next life.

**A/N: Well...that's Henry. He's gone. I've finished the story now and I will post the rest of it gradually over the next week or so. Please leave me a review! I'm anxious to hear your reactions.**


	14. Finality

**Finality**

Ransley led us to a new clearing in the centre of a small woodland; he took in a deep breath before he sat down on the floor and crossed his legs. He took several shaking breaths before he turned around to face me. Ransley held out his arms and beckoned me into his lap. I took a step forward and a dandelion crushed under my bare foot, wishes floated away unmade as I watched them go. I was envious of the white seeds. I wanted to be able to float away.

The grass on the ground was thin and a faded green, dandelions and daisies littered the small area though. The trees surrounding us were thick and budding, but they were indistinguishable. The sky above was darkening with sunset and a strange shade of red. It would be a brilliant day tomorrow despite the terrible events overlooking it. Shadows were cast across the clearing as I advanced towards Ransley.

He took me in his arms and sat me in his lap, leaning against his chest. He rocked us back and forth and whispered an old song in Gaelic. His hands stroked my hair and played with the ends. When I looked up at his face, he looked straight ahead with a strained expression upon his features. His eyes were the darkest of blacks and when he took a breath in when the moon was high in the sky he pulled me tighter to his chest.

"It's midnight," he said suddenly. His head was turned towards the moon wonderingly, the strange shape of it still creating a good amount of light. His skin was that of the Dead's, not even his eyelids bore any sign of life. His blonde hair was bizarrely full though and shone in the light. I settled my head against his neck and took in his scent—honeysuckle. I wished I could cry when I thought of what would be undertaken today.

"Ransley, I'm so sorry," I said almost silently. I knew I would begin to sob soon if I didn't pull myself together. I had to be the strong one here. It was at least in part my fault, I realised now. I had told Henry to do what he wanted for the sake of my sanity…the insanity Emily had shown me terrified me and I needed a way out. So Henry created an immortal child.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Bella," he told me as he turned to me and lifted my chin up so I would look at him. My eyes met jet and the stars of the night. He held my chin in two of his fingers, his grip firm and soft. "This is all on Henry's head," he said this with finality. As if no-one could deny it. The Volturi would though, and they would challenge us.

"We will still pay for it though," I replied sadly. At this Ransley let my head go and turned to the skies again, praying words on his lips. I shook my head and rested against his chest again. "You know the God cannot help us Ransley." I was surprised he had not lost his faith by now, because mine had long been gone and I'd only been in this existence for scarcely a month.

"I can still try though, can't I? You may have lost any belief you ever had, but He is still in here providing for me the strength I gather every second I spend with you." I looked up at him, hurt by his admission. I was a task to him, no wonder. My wild moods nearly sent Henry mad.

"So I am a trial for you," I breathed. "Every moment you sit here with me is out of pity. I could understand that. 'Poor Isabella, this is all her fault. I should look after her pathetic little soul until Death finds her and sends her to Hell.'" I stood up as I spoke and went to the very edge of the clearing, my feet making deep impressions in the ground as I stomped.

"No, that's not true at all." Ransley was behind me in a second, his hand gripping my shoulder and turning me around. "For one, if I hated you why would I spend the last few moments of my life with you? And for two, nothing is your fault in this. You said it yourself, this is all on Henry." His eyes searched my face, and his hand moved from my shoulder to my hand. He gripped it in his own hand and kissed each of my fingers tenderly. "You're not a task." He smiled slightly, though it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"If I am not a task, then why do you need the Lord to give you strength?" I asked, pulling my hand from his and gesturing to the sky above. I was met with silence. He paused for a moment before he took both of my hands and swung them between us. His whole body was tensed when he answered me.

"Because I find myself loving you more and more each minute I spend with you." I was stunned to say the least and my heart clenched in my chest. He loved me. I turned this phrase over and over in my head, my brow furrowed. "I'd appreciate it very much if you would react somehow," he said nervously. He held my hands tightly against his chest, the fabric of his clothes rubbing on my fingers.

My ingenious answer was, "Err." Ransley laughed shakily.

"I should have expected that," he murmured, turning away from me.

What could I say? _What did he expect me to say_? Did he want me to leap into his arms screaming, 'I love you too'? I was afraid that would be impossible. Because I didn't love him, and I never could love him. He would wither. I felt tears prick my eyes, I didn't want to hurt him but I certainly didn't see fit to lead him on. Then again, what would it matter? We would both be dead by this time tomorrow. He would never know. I could set aside own feelings so he could express his own.

I sighed and put a hand on his back, he turned. I reached my hands out to him and he leant into them. I pulled him to my mouth and kissed him, I kissed Ransley because I didn't want to lose him. His hands came to cup the back of my head as he held me fast to him. His touch was fervent and carefully measured. He didn't want to hurt me.

Finally, after what seemed like forever he let me go. He grinned and held me to his chest once more, before he sat us down. Ransley rested his head in my hair and took his first steady breath in for days. "I love you," his muffled voice came thick with emotion. "I'm sorry we didn't meet in another life."

"Me too," I replied.

*********

The sun brushed over the horizon as I was met with a new sighting. This time I did not feel ill with it though, thankfully. This time however, what I saw was much more horrific.

_Emily was paralysed, her body incapable of movement and her mind locked. Lucian stood behind her, his powerful stare focused on the back of the child's head. Aro stood before Emily in the quiet woodland they had taken her into at the side of an unknown road. He smiled sadistically as he clapped his hands together; Caius cast him a furtive glance. Heidi and Eleazar were silent spectators at their sides and Felix was nowhere to be seen._

"_Well done, Lucian," Aro said gratefully. "If Eleazar is right we could be in some trouble if she's let loose. Such a frightening gift would do us _no_ good." He sighed and took several steps forward before he grasped her hand in both of his. Aro's wondering gaze roamed all over Emily's face as he gained whatever sight he received when he touched one's hand. "Such a remarkable child," he whispered, releasing her hand. Emily's face was frozen into an expression of distaste and her eyes bore little sign of sanity. Emily had vanished and what was left behind—was a monster. "And quite a pity that she must be destroyed." Aro turned away and held a quick conversation with Caius, who I now realised he considered a brother. _

"_What can she do?" Caius asked, his expression hopeful and hopeless at the same time. He knew that even if the child could kill on demand, Aro would still not keep her. The Volturi could not be seen as merciful people, and the implications that would go with allowing the girl to live would not leave them in good graces with the rest of the vampire world. It would say that the Volturi had their own set of rules and a different one for all the rest of vampire kind. Caius and Aro knew that they were in a position to do that, but if they were to keep their reign then they could not exploit that position. _

"_She can produce terrible visions in another person's head; it manifested itself even before her change." Caius' eyebrows shot up high in his forehead. The pale blonde of his hair seemed to turn white with his excitement and a slow grin crept up his face. _

"_What kinds of visions?" Aro appeared confused for a moment before he answered._

"_Terrible, frightening visions, just as Alistair described." Aro turned to Emily again. She still appeared as wild with blood lust as ever, her crimson eyes locked ahead of her. Caius began to speak again._

"_Can we not keep her for ourselves? Take her back to Italy? She's easily contained with Lucian here." The words flew out of his mouth faster than a muntjack running from a dog, his eyes flashing. Caius gestured so as to outline a small room back in Volterra from whence they came. _

_Aro was shocked at such a suggestion and gave Caius a silencing look, "You know why we cannot do that, brother. Now put away your childish fantasies for another day when Athenodora will not play with you." Caius' nostrils flared as he fought the urge to tell Aro off so severely he could not hear another thing for weeks. But Aro would not be undermined so he continued to speak to the Guard._

"_You best destroy her now," he sighed, pulling his hood over his long black tresses and turning away in a direction I only guessed was Henry's. _

"What now, Bella?" Ransley inquired uncertainly. His hand brushed my hair away from my face. He looked concerned while he took in my panicked face.

"Emily is gone now, and I think they're going to find Henry now." Ransley smiled though the expression held no happiness. I didn't know quite what to think. Should I feel relieved?I was glad that Emily was dead. But I was terrified for Henry; he would be gone from this world in a matter of hours. I hated what he'd done to me. But I didn't wish death on him, now I'd had time to think on all that happened. Ransley kissed my forehead, his arms clutching me tighter to him once more.

"I won't let them kill you, Bella," he told me, his breath brushing my hair. "I will protect you from them." His face was determined as the sun gradually found us, its dappled light creeping through the trees. We shone in the light, brighter than any star you would see in the sky. We wore our souls on our skins, bared for all to see and to do with as they pleased. If we were torn apart, our souls would not escape because they would be in pieces. We would never live again. We would never meet again.

"Ransley, tell me properly about your life, how you were changed," I asked, putting a hand on his cheek. I was suddenly desperate to really know him, yes I knew where he came from—but I didn't truly know what he used to do and what led him here. Did he ever find the Scot who killed him?

"Well, I was brought up in a hamlet outside of Dublin in Ireland. I lived in a small hut which was nothing unusual." He smiled before he continued, "And my mother was very lovely, she gave me my blonde hair which she liked to keep short. She washed all of the clothes in our hamlet. My father worked crops for a farmer whose name I can no longer remember. We were all fairly content back then.

"I can only remember small pieces of my human life—I imagine your memories are fading too. Anyway. I was bored I think when I decided to head in the woods behind our house, and I found a woman there. Her hair was a very bright red and her eyes were near black, I remember thinking she was quite a beauty. She smiled and said "_Come with me, I have something for you_." She walked off further into the woods then. I was wondering how she came to have such a strange accent when she spoke Gaelic. Because I hadn't set foot out of my little village in all my sixteen years, I had no concept of anything outside of it. So I followed her.

"She led me to a small circle of trees and then she was on me. Next thing I know, I feel like I'm being set on fire. I didn't know why she stopped herself from killing me until I met her a few years ago. She was chased off by a werewolf apparently. She had no choice but to leave me there. She claims she was lucky to escape with her life after fighting a werewolf—which she killed. She could not explain what such a creature was doing out in daylight though; it's always been a mystery to anyone I've told of my change."

I was puzzled for a moment. A werewolf? The sights that came to mind at this word were long bushy eyebrows, long and sharp fingernails, pointy ears and big hulking men taller than a house! Such horrific sights that I thought to be made up to frighten us all out of the woods. The idea that such a thing could truly exist made me jump from my seat in Ransley's lap and search the trees for grotesque furry men.

Ransley laughed before he rose to his feet. "Didn't you hear what I said? She killed it." He rested his hands on my shoulders and pulled me to him, breathing in my scent. "I killed her, too," he finally said. "I killed the woman who changed me; she said she probably deserved it for not coming back to me." I could feel his smile against the skin of my neck and I was disgusted. I pushed him away. How could he take so much pleasure from killing another person? Admittedly she was hardly innocent, but it still constituted a murder. My feet led me several paces away from him when I turned on him. There was still a smile playing on the edge of his lips, though his eyes were somber.

"What's wrong, Bella?" he questioned, walking until we stood toe to toe. He reached his hand up to my face and caressed my cheek. "What did I say?" I remained emotionless, perhaps only the blacks of my eyes giving away what I felt. How could I communicate my abhorrence of such violence effectively? I took his hand and held it in my own at our sides.

"You murdered her." Ransley was taken aback, his brow furrowed and his hand left mine. I made sure to hold his eyes. He would have to answer to me. He would have to look me in the eye and show remorse if I was to forgive his cruel behaviour.

"She wasn't human, Bella. She killed me." He gestured towards his heart, words of hurt about to tumble out of his lips. "You had your humanity taken from you a mere few _weeks_ ago; surely you understand the hatred I felt towards her. That I still feel towards her." Ransley's voice was gentle but heavy with disbelief. He wanted to know what I was thinking, because I was very much in the same boat as him.

"I know, I know that, but I haven't killed Henry have I? I'm going to say to you what I said to Henry a short while ago: You can't justify killing with death." I took both of his hands in my own and shook him, desperately willing him to understand. Ransley was stubborn though, he heard me but he wouldn't _listen_. As far as he was concerned, the woman deserved it. So he bore no regret.

"You'd be right if she hadn't done something wrong," Ransley replied swiftly. Still my companion was not angered and I wondered where the anger he must have needed to kill his creator came from. Here I was questioning his motives, questioning his perception of right and wrong and calling him a murderer. Why didn't he shout at me? Why didn't he _roar_ at me?

"Ransley, you're forgetting that we've all done what she did. You were her prey, just like every human you've ever killed was. Yes, she was wrong not to come back for you, but really—what could she do? I would bet she was quite a young vampire when she found you. She probably realised that she would have to look after you. So many humans abandon their children, well you were no different! She abandoned you." He was silent as he waited for me to continue. His back was straight and he held his arms by his sides.

"Then, when you found her, you're telling me she apologized. What else did you expect her to say or do? Sadly, none of us can turn back time. Did you even learn her name?" He shook his head, slowly. I carried on my tirade. I would keep on about this until he was sorry and realised what he'd done. "You didn't even find out her name. Describe to me the scene Ransley."

"I followed a lead from another vampire in Scotland's highlands. They said she was in a cave somewhere up there and had gone mad. So I went up there to the cave described and found her just as I remembered her. But this time, her eyes were not black but golden. She looked up at me as though I were God; she rose to her feet and ran into my side. She wrapped her arms around me. Her red hair seemed to have faded over the years between my first sighting and then.

"She said, "_At last, you've found me_." She smiled before she realised that I was not there for a wonderful family reunion. She looked pained as she stepped back into the darkness. I advanced towards her and took her by her shoulders. I shook her so hard her teeth rattled in her head and I asked her why she did it. At first she was unsure what I meant before it dawned on her and she told me the whole story of why she had left me there. About the werewolf.

"I asked her if she had any last words, and she said, "_I'm so sorry for the many lifetimes of pain I caused you in my selfishness_." She said she deserved everything she would get and then I killed her."

My mouth crumpled and my nose wrinkled. Ransley was a monster. I was instantly reminded of Ember in Barnstaple. The amber eyes of a creature who was undoubtedly wracked with so much sorrow, she refrained from drinking human blood. Abstinence would take so much will power it'd be near impossible. I supposed the woman thought she was repaying her debt to humanity.

"In the few moments you spent with that woman, were you never reminded of Ember?" I asked him. Ransley raised his brow before he went to answer.

"No. Should I have been?" I was stunned. The colour of Ember's eyes was so shocking when I met her that I burned with the curiosity to find out how came to gain such a lovely colour. I hated that I looked like a demon.

"Ransley, do you know how Ember has golden eyes?" Ransley nodded. "Then you should know how the woman you killed achieved such striking eyes that even in your fit of rage—you noticed their colour." His expression turned to that of a frown. "We will never know how long she kept from human blood, but it makes me think. If her reaction to you was as you described, then surely you could see how remorseful she was. And maybe, just maybe, after what she knew she did to you, she never drank from a human again." With those words floating in the air between us I took a breath before I was plunged into a new vision.

_A fire was lit in a field past Chester, the wood crackled under the heat. The vampires who had made the small pyre stood away from it and started walking back into the forest, their cloaks swirling as they turned. In the fire there were several blackened shapes, bulkier than the wood. The fray of fabric curled in on itself and charred. _

_A dark violet smoke began to rise from the fire, and that was when I realised. What use would the Volturi have for a fire other than to kill someone? The reason behind the strangely coloured smoke and the fraying fabric was that they had found him. They'd found Henry. And now…he was dead._

I cried now, harder than ever before. Screaming and shrieking. Ransley came to grip my shoulders as I fell to the ground, my grief pushing me to the ground. Henry had been sorry and I had ignored his pleas. I had left him to die.

I was no more than a self-centred, stupid, ridiculous little hypocrite. I had been telling off Ransley for the past few hours for killing his creator and showing no mercy. _I had shown Henry no mercy_.

_I was no better than him_.

**A/N: Well, this is the second to last chapter. Review to let me know when I should post the ending!**


	15. The End

**The End**

Ransley sat with me for goodness knows how long, while I worked through my thoughts. So Emily was gone, taking Henry with her. I felt guilty for being so enraged by his actions that I left him alone to face the Volturi. My anger felt so ridiculous now…though I knew it was perfectly justified. My lip twisted in my knowledge of the fact that I could not take it back.

A group of six undulating black figures moved through the trees. Their steps were near silent and the woodland was soundless. The sun was low in the sky and it had turned pink, signifying the start of another beautiful day. I vaguely remembered the saying my father had told me: _When it is evening, ye say, it will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, it will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and louring._

The Volturi stood now not far from where we sat on the ground. They each pulled their hoods back from their heads and turned their stony gaze on us. I felt a chill run over me.

"Hello, Isabella," Aro smiled, his bizarrely white teeth revealing themselves with a grin. His eyes took in the fading meadow where Ransley and I sat, awaiting their arrival. The six vampires who had followed their master blindly took offensive positions in a circle around us. Ransley held my hand tightly in his; squeezing it firmly while he attempted to compose the fear I could feel in the way he held himself. Ransley was trembling, and the red of his eyes were the darkest of nights. The blackbirds had to come to harvest.

Eleazar gave Aro a look which said that he knew something…a thing that Aro would regard with excitement. My head passed between their two faces like an unsteady horse, unsure of its path. Eleazar beckoned Aro with his eyes and he went to him, holding out his hand. Eleazar touched his fingers to the palm of Aro's hand and the grin which had graced his face just a second before grew wider. It looked as if his face would split in two if he could smile much more. The strange quality of his skin seemed to accommodate the expression well though.

"Why don't you stand?" Aro inquired. Why didn't we stand indeed? We shouldn't take this lying down. So I grabbed Ransley's hand and dragged him to his feet. I realised that they were all really quite short in comparison to Ransley and I stifled a laugh. We were afraid of sprites. Aro made a brief conversation with Eleazar before he turned to us again.

"You are gifted too, so extraordinary!" he said, turning to who I now knew to be his brother of sorts: Caius. "Caius, Isabella is gifted too. But Eleazar is unsure of what she is capable of, some kind of sight." The blonde haired vampire—who I'd come to dislike so much for his sadism—became immediately enthusiastic. His face became altogether more animate. "Perhaps she would be willing to allow me to take a look, brother?" Felix looked uncertain at my side, his stance changing to that of a nervous man.

"I'm not sure the situation is safe enough for you Master…" he said. Aro gave him a silencing look and he bowed his head in submission. Now his muscles clenched in anticipation, waiting for the call of battle. I wondered what Aro intended for me to 'get a look'. Ransley started speaking in his native tongue towards the group, a fierce expression upon his face. I wished I knew what he was saying, and apparently so did the Volturi as they stared back at him in confusion.

The other vampires looked as though Ransley had just danced around the May pole with no clothes on. I had no idea what he'd just said, but I would guess if the Volturi were the children of Ireland they would be quite offended. A smile started creeping up Aro's face and I knew there would be trouble.

"Ransley…you realise your words hold no meaning to any man among us. You are the lone Irishman in this small gathering." The Englishman who stood behind us, Lucian, chuckled. Aro looked up at him with intrigue. "Do you know what young Ransley just said, Lucian?" he asked. There was a disturbance in the air as Lucian shook his head 'no'. Aro sighed, "Maybe you could have taught me Gaelic one day."

Ransley stilled immediately and pulled me tight to his chest, his stony arms wrapping around me. He snarled with bared teeth at Aro. I searched for meaning in this man's words, 'Maybe you could have taught me Gaelic one day.' Oh. I saw the issue here, the most important and most horrifying word in that sentence was, _could_. Would Aro destroy us then? Of course he would, this had been what we were waiting for. So why didn't he go ahead and do it then?

I extracted myself from my companion's arms and squared my shoulders. "Do it then, Aro. Kill us! You've gotten to Henry. You killed Emily. We're the only ones left and we have no way to defend ourselves. Rip us to shreds like you did Thorne! But know this, we are the innocent ones here, we had no hand in Emily's creation. Henry did that. Not me, nor Ransley." Aro looked bemused by my outburst and continued to stare at me for several minutes. My gaze never dropped from his evil eyes.

Laughter. Aro began to laugh, his mirth echoing off the trees surrounding the clearing we stood in. Aro's head was thrown back and his chest heaved with it, the joy he felt. My face dropped from that of a ferocious dog to a stunned rabbit. What exactly about this whole thing was funny? I looked behind me at Ransley, apparently just as mystified as I was. Aro's laughter became bitter before it stopped completely.

"Isabella, you all but _told _dear Henry to change Emily; Henry intended to use her gift against us, the Volturi. You must be aware of the penalty for treason, surely?" His lips were in a tight line and his eyes narrowed. I did indeed know how one paid for attempting to kill the king, they paid with their lives. Hanged, drawn and quartered.

"I would hardly call you a king Aro," Ransley scoffed. Aro's eyes flicked over to Ransley again, daring him to say something more; but Ransley remained silent. Lucian, who had been soundless behind us took several deliberate steps toward us and held Ransley's arms behind his back. He whispered something in his ear that was too low for me to hear and I faced Aro with a straight back and squared shoulders.

"Aro, why are you dragging this out? Just do it." Caius smiled sadistically behind his brother and his eyes flashed to Lucian's. He raised his hand and pointed it before he let it drop swiftly. With a furrowed brow I turned to see what Lucian would do with that signal.

"Just do it," Caius said. Lucian tore Ransley's arm from his body and then the next, yet Ransley remained quiet throughout the whole ordeal. He kept my gaze firmly on his eyes though they held no message, no last words. Just quiet resignation. Then he was gone. A fire was started and my friend was in pieces on his funeral pyre. I felt myself collapse onto my knees once more and I curled over, my vision clouding as I cried for the love I'd lost.

I remembered when my mother had held grandma's hand while she passed away and the initial shock before she cried. She'd cried for hours afterwards, her howling sobs slowly diminishing until silent tears fell as she went about her tasks. I'd been twelve then and shed few tears because I hadn't known her very well; this made it easier to realise that Grandma would never come back. _You can't miss something you never really had_.

A hand was laid on my shoulder and it squeezed slightly in what I supposed was reassurance. My frame quivered with grief. I had lost _everything_. My father figure who I pushed away in my upset and anger, who I left for the Volturi to kill. My companion who had loved me and cared for me—who I'd called a monster before the fiends who stood around me arrived.

I was the immortal child all along, destructive and thoughtless. My temper tantrums had led to the deaths of my two friends. What was left for me? Emily had been more right than I realised when she showed me myself. In my fight against her vision coming true, I had made it so. Aro had said it… "_Isabella, you all but _told_ dear Henry to change Emily_." It was just one big sham. One huge, ridiculous sham. God was playing with me.

"Isabella, it's all done now." I looked up to see the fire had burnt out and the last of the smoke fade into the skies. Ransley was finished. Henry was finished. Emily was finished. I was finished.

I wanted it all to finish. I wanted to _embrace_ the peace of death. My head turned to the side and I stared up at Aro, his mouth curved into a sympathetic smile.

"It's my time now, isn't it." It wasn't a question, but a statement. All the vampires surrounding the meadow came closer, exchanging looks with one another. They seemed to know exactly what would happen next and were weary of it. Their red eyes were filled with sympathy nonetheless, and they shoved the sticks they'd used to set the fire further away from where I sat crouched on the floor.

"It doesn't have to be Bella." Aro smiled above me and offered me his hand. The sky beyond him had turned a harsh black and the moon was in a crescent shape. The stars were once more visible, and Aro's eyes were just as bright. But I would not take his hand; though I was curious as to why I didn't have to die.

"Why? It might as well be." I picked myself up from the floor and found myself on eyelevel with many of the vampires, only Heidi was taller than myself. "Why couldn't you all just leave us alone?!" I shouted at them, my anger bubbling to the surface and flying at them in a stream of profanities. "We didn't do anything wrong! Ransley and I were innocent. We didn't plot against you!" I felt the urge to punch something, or someone. I wanted to claw Aro's eyes out.

Aro held his hand out to me once again and he nodded to me that I should take it. "Perhaps something can be done, but first you must hand me some insight," he said softly. What could be done? Did he have some way of reversing everything?! I _needed_ my friends back. So I touched my hand to his and he smiled wistfully, staring off into the heavens somewhere. When I went to take my hand away he gripped it in his hand for a moment before he finally let it go.

"She can see everyone and everything that will affect her life," he said, letting his hand drop. "She saw us when we got the report from Alistair, she saw us when we destroyed Emily and she saw us when we finished off Henry. Remarkable…" He looked to the side, blinking, and then turned back to me with determination plain on his face.

"I'd like you to join us Isabella," he said. Was he serious? He'd taken everything I had, yet he saw fit to invite me into his silly, ridiculous, little game of Kings and Queens. Suddenly his eyes changed, the redness becoming hard rubies set into his deathly face. "Not that you have much choice, though…Lucian?" I felt a freezing grasp crawl over me and every bone in my body was like ice. I'd never felt so cold in all my human years and my vampiric ones. I gasped and went to turn my head. But I couldn't. I was frozen.

_How dare he_? How _DARE_ he take away my free will! I hoped that my hand might turn into a fist and fly into Aro's face. I hoped that he might bleed all over the deadened ground. _I hoped that he might feel pain_. That he might see his cruelty. I wanted to scream. I wanted to lash out at anything and everything that fell into my path. Aro stared into my enraged eyes passively and gestured towards me.

The land lifted under my feet and then I was moving. The clearing where Ransley's remains lay disappeared behind me, the reaching arms of the trees fighting to conceal it. The woodland we had wandered into with the executioner's sword swaying and lowering over our heads. That was gone too.

Burning tears staggered down my face once more. My chest constricted as though a red hot branding iron had been pressed into it. With my anger burnt out and my will taken from me, what was to stop the creation of the mindless drone Emily had shown me? Dead eyes. Muddy dress. Blood trickling from my mouth. Only…when I saw it for the first time I'd thought it was new blood, fresh from a body. But now I realised that the blood had fallen from my eyes.

Tears of blood fell from my eyes and I wished I could lick them from my face. My throat burned now. _Blood_. _Blood_. _Blood_. As steady as a heartbeat, the words appeared in my head. Again and again, all the way to the edge of Britain. The cloud cover shielded my captors from the sun's fiery rays and then we were floating.

Floating across the seas of water, salt and fish flew around the boat I guessed we must have embarked. Floating. Just staying above the surface but still dipped in blood. I wanted to shut my eyes and pretend none of this was happening. I wanted to be home in my house with my mother and father. I wanted to hear my father's steady snores and my mother's night terrors. I would shake her awake and I would smile.

I wondered how my life might have turned out had I not tripped over my dress. When would I have married? Who might I have married? Yet I could only remember three faces in my human existence; they were Mr. Smith's, mother and father's. The last faces I'd ever seen as a human. The concern I'd seen on his face when he helped me to my feet…that wasn't that of just a caring old man. Maybe he'd seen what was coming for me. He'd gripped my hands tightly before I yanked them from him.

"Do you think she would attack us now if I freed her Master?" Lucian inquired. He sounded strained somewhere above me from where I'd been laid across the deck. My hands and legs remained as frozen as any icicle formed in the winter and boat's unsteadiness made no difference.

"Are you losing control, Lucian?" Aro asked on my right side. I could see his long hair blowing in the wind, though I couldn't see his face. Strangely though, he didn't seem very worried about keeping me under control. Not that he should. I would fight no more. I should pay for my part in the murder of Ransley and Henry. I was responsible. If I'd been more careful that day I would have never bled and Henry would have passed me by and he would still be alive. Ransley would still be alive. We would have never met and I would have never broken his will. This was my fault.

"It's becoming more difficult with each passing second Master. Her youth means that her spirit is harder to trap, it continues to try and escape…" Lucian paused. "She has given up. She will be easier to contain now." There was a smile in his voice and a certain amount of pity. But right now, what did it matter? I was as good as dead. I would be Aro's servant for the rest of my time until the Guard fell.

"Well if she has given up, surely she will not attempt to attack us?" Aro replied. "Let her free, and if she loses herself again—contain her." I felt the icy grasp drop away finally and I sighed. Freedom. But I still remained trapped. I was trapped with the Volturi.

"We're so pleased you could come along," Aro smiled, offering me his hand. Resignedly, I took his hand. I had no fight left in me and I was exhausted. Such a ludicrous thought was that a girl of my tender years should be tired of life. But this was the truth. Aro still held my hand in his for several moments before he released it with a saddened expression upon his face.

Taking in my surroundings, I saw that it was not an extraordinary boat. In fact, it was not unlike the average fisher's ship that would dock in the river Thames. The wooden deck was awash with sea water flying in over the sides. The boat rocked heavily with the waves and I found myself falling to the floor and gripping on for dear life. Instinctually.

Aro laughed suddenly as he dropped to the floor beside me, "She lives on an island and she can't stand up straight on the seas surrounding it." I didn't find this terribly funny but there was a chorus of laughter around me. My nails dug into the wood, splinters shooting off all around. I pressed my head to the ground and uttered the same prayer I had begun this damned journey with.

_Pater noster, qui es in caelis:_

_sanctificetur Nomen Tuum;_

_adveniat Regnum Tuum;_

_fiat voluntas Tua,_

_sicut in caelo, et in terra._

_Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;_

_et dimitte nobis debita nostra,_

_Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;_

_et ne nos inducas in tentationem;_

_sed libera nos a Malo._

My body rocked from side to side with the tides, unable to stress my own wishes as they crippled me just hours before.

I swear that I will never again cower in fear, nor will I rage with anger. Such feelings lead to rash actions and rash actions achieved the demise of life as I knew it. I plan on never feeling anything again. So while I press my face into the gnarled wood, I make this vow and I close my eyes, never to be opened again.

**A/N: Well there you have it. That is the ending of The Immortal child. I'd like to thank psscohort on Twilighted for her ongoing support, and for convincing me that my writing is pretty good. The next instalment in Isabella Swan's story is up now! Just go to my page. :)**


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